THE HOWL ENSEMBLE / LÄRMSCHUTZ “Faux Amis Vol. 6” C40 (Faux Amis)

The Howl Ensemble formed like Voltron at the second Howl Fest, held March 30, 2019, somewhere. Space and time are essentially irrelevant, but I’ve given you a date, and the Howl Ensemble spent about 22 minutes on this thing, so there are two pieces of information that place you somewhere on a timeline at two different points (one the initial performance, the second the 22 minutes it takes you to listen to the Howl Ensemble’s side). The septet, made up of electronic and acoustic instruments, lays it on thick with a heavy, HEAVY drone, not one for the faint of heart and one I certainly wish I would’ve been able to check out in a live setting. The Howl Ensemble simply bowls you over with waves upon waves of colossal sonics. I’m not going to guess on this stuff because I’m going to look foolish, but I how is this not an entire symphony testing the very limits of their instruments? All at once and without reprieve?

Then there’s our old friends Lärmschutz, whom I’ve covered extensively now here and at Tabs Out, and whose split series on Faux Amis reaches its sixth iteration with this release. Over the course of the series, Lärmschutz has taken their cues from their splitmates, and here is no different. Submitting a single 18-minute track that drones through the far reaches of our Utrecht heroes’ instruments, Lärmschutz goes all in on the mood, flirting with a similar heavy density as the Howl Ensemble, but ultimately veering a bit into free improv – as is their wont! By the end, chiming guitar and subterranean bass collide into abstract geometric shapes that freeze like ice crystals at the peaks of the highest mountains. And if you’re thinking, “Holy crap, that’s awesome!,” think again – while you’re technically correct, Lärmschutz does “holy crap, that’s awesome” pretty much every day before breakfast. It’s just their thing.

Don’t forget to keep your eye out – one of these per month should have surfaced this year… (with the complete understanding that the year is almost over as you read this).

https://thehowlensemble.bandcamp.com/

https://larmschutz.bandcamp.com/

https://fauxamisrecords.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan

HARSH NOISE MOVEMENT / LÄRMSCHUTZ “Faux Amis Vol. 5” C40 (Faux Amis)

Not an easy one here. Or, maybe it’s so easy it’s insane. Either way, Ade Rowe, aka Harsh Noise Movement, joins the Lärmschutz gang (like they’re a Scooby-Doo-esque mystery-solving team!) for vol. 5 of the 2019 Faux Amis split series. Rowe is accompanied by Akano Shibahito on saxophone, and the result is a pretty intense collaboration. On one hand, you have an artist that goes by “Harsh Noise Movement,” so you pretty much have an inkling as to what that sounds like. On the other hand, that static HNW cut with the sax is a pretty vibrant and unusual addition to the noise canon, so there’s a lot to be invigorated by. There’s not a wasted second on Harsh Noise Movement’s side of the tape.

Also, the HNM track is called “Thug Life.”

So of course Lärmschutz’s side is called “Junior M.A.F.I.A.,” because why not? Taking a cue from their splitmates (as they tend to do throughout the series), the Dutch experimentalists get wickedly noisy, spewing forth bile from the their lovely instruments like they’d never met feedback they couldn’t double, triple, or quadruple with a few tweaks of a knob. Over the course of their 20-minute side, they lurch and shiver, creating such a racket that you might mistake THEM for a harsh noise act! You’d be so wrong. But sometimes so right.

Hee hee. Lärmschutz is cool.

Bring on more of this series! I can’t get enough!

https://larmschutz.bandcamp.com/

https://harshnoisemovement.bandcamp.com/

https://fauxamisrecords.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan

LÄRMSCHUTZ / TERBESCHIKKINGSTELLING “Faux Amis Vol. 0: Terbeschikkingstelling” C60 (Faux Amis)

This is ground zero. The very first experiment. Where it all went horribly right (or wrong, depending on your perspective). Dutch sound terrorists Lärmschutz initiated this split series on their label Faux Amis, where they were like, let’s make our online friends our real friends. Let’s sign a bunch of them up, then do a split a month with them throughout 2019.

Great idea!

It has worked out incredibly well so far, as I’ve had the opportunity to dig into a couple of them over at Tabs Out. But here’s the flagship. Here’s the genesis. And who better to do it with first than fellow countrymen, am I right? The Lärmschutz gang roped in fellow Dutch sonic terrorists Terbeschikkingstelling, and the match is one made in heaven, also the Netherlands. Over the course of two lengthy tracks each, the new best pals run through all manner of desperate no wave dynamite tinged with electronics – well, that’s the Lärmschutz MO anyway, the trio plunging away through a half hour with reckless abandon. Terbeschikkingstelling takes a more deliberate electronic approach, wrenching noise and static from whatever it is they get their hands on. I’m sure it’s pretty solid gear, with lots of electrical components they can wring static from.

This split is a phenomenal start, and, take it from me, the series maintains its momentum!

https://larmschutz.bandcamp.com/

https://sturmunddrang.bandcamp.com/

https://fauxamisrecords.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan