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Amp is the project of London-based musician Richard Walker, a project
vaguely related to Bristol's psycho-ambient tribe
of Flying Saucer Attack and
Third Eye Foundation.
Walker recorded his first cassette under the monicker Amp,
Green Sky Blue Tree (1992), with help from
friends such as Dave Pearce of
Flying Saucer Attack (originally with him in
Secret Garden and in a multimedia project titled AMP Art Co).
In 1994 Walker met French vocalist Karine Charff, a meeting
that laid the foundations for a group.
Sirenes (Petrol, 1996) contains both "songs" and avantgarde pieces.
The two songs quite different in nature, although the basic reference point is
Flying Saucer Attack (and possibly
Seefeel):
the distorted whispered "shoegazing" melodies of Souvenir,
versus the spoken-word recital of Merry Go Down floating in a whirlwind of electronic drones.
The more ambitious compositions attempt different strategies of
soundsculpting, but they have in common the result: a chaotic ambience that
is not quite relaxing chill music, but rather a claustrophobic and
almost apocalyptic meditation on the post-industrial world.
The instrumental Frieze harks back to the archetype of the British cosmic-psychedelic raga, Pink Floyd's Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun.
The other hyper-psychedelic track (and the other standout), Soft Stone Soul, is a dilated lattice of organ-like and vocal fragments (think of Stockhausen's equivalent of a Gregorian chant).
Rave Mantra is the fresco of a terrifying land, in which Scharff's voice appears to mumble senseless words while being engulfed in a boiling magma of senseless noises.
Its counterpart is the brief piano sonata that closes the album,
So Be It, a glimmer of hope in a broadly hostile universe.
The first venture into dance music, Mathilda's Shorts Wave, is perhaps the most un-emotional of all tracks: its protagonist is a frantic drum-machine set against a ghostly breeze of echoes. The second one, Eternity, boasts an
equally hysterical beat, and even more syncopated, set against a wall of guitar noise a` la My Bloody Valentine.
The first album was preceded by the single
Get There/ Remember (Linda's Strange Vacation, 1995)
and was followed by an intense sequence of singles:
Frise`/ Le Petit Chat (Wurlitzer Jukebox, 1996),
Ombres (Enraptured, 1996),
Beyond/ Lutin (Wulitzer Jukebox, 1996),
later collected on Passe`-Present (Enraptured, 1998).
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Amp e` il progetto del londinese Richard Walker, vagamente affiliato alla
tribu` psico-ambientale di Bristol
(Flying Saucer Attack,
Third Eye Foundation).
Walker registra la prima cassetta degli Amp,
Green Sky Blue Tree (1992), praticamente da solo, con
l'aiuto di Dave Pearce dei
Flying Saucer Attack (che aveva fatto gavetta con lui
nei Secret Garden e nel progetto multimediale AMP Art Co) e pochi altri amici.
E` l'incontro con la cantante francese Karine Charff, nel 1994, a gettare
le basi per un vero gruppo musicale.
Su Sirenes (Petrol, 1996), che fa seguito al singolo
Get There/ Remember (Linda's Strange Vacation, 1995),
le influenze sembrano essere soprattutto Flying Saucer Attack, Seefeel e Main.
Le melodie di Frieze e Souvenir sono immerse in un caos
ambientale di accordi, ma le romanze pianistiche
November e So Be It e
il salmo orientale di Soft Stone Soul sono ancora canzoni.
Perdu, Eternity e Rave Mantra spingono agli estremi
la ricerca sul suono.
Al primo album fece seguito una nutrita frotta di singoli:
Frise`/ Le Petit Chat (Wurlitzer Jukebox, 1996),
Ombres (Enraptured, 1996),
Beyond/ Lutin (Wulitzer Jukebox, 1996)
riassunti in seguito su Passe`-Present (Enraptured, 1998).
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If English is your first language and you could translate my old Italian text, please contact me.
Scroll down for recent reviews in english.
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Per Astral Moon Beam Projections (Kranky, 1997) al suo fianco sono
ora la cantante Karine Charff e il batterista Gareth Mitchell (anche nei
Philosopher's Stone). La musica e` cambiata rispetto al primo album, e`
progredita (o regredita) a un livello maggiore di astrazione e dilatazione,
lasciandosi alle spalle le ballate spaziali un po' naif degli esordi.
L'influenza della scuola post-psichedelica e post-ambientale texana (e forse
anche dell'avanguardia neozelandese, Dead C e Gate su tutti) e` molto
forte. I brani sono lunghi ed eterei, privi di struttura e di ritmo.
Lo schema dei loro brani sembra sempre lo stesso, ma in realta` varia in
continuazione.
I gorgheggi fiabeschi della ragazza fluttuano sugli undici minuti di riverberi e
caos di Onehopesinuncertainty, e a tutti sono venuti subito in mente i
primi Sonic Youth, i maelstrom di chitarra di Lee Ranaldo accoppiati ai vagiti
subconsci di Kim Gordon.
Il canto e` invece fuso con gli altri strumenti nelle evoluzioni subacquee di
Lightdripglow.
Il drone di Transmigration, che comprende un aereo in picchiata,
s'inalbera in un crescendo raga.
Le musiche che Walker ha nel sangue (My Bloody Valentine e Cocteau Twins)
vengono a galla in Stellata, che fa le stesse cose degli altri brani ma
comprimendole in uno spazio (e tempo) piu` limitato.
Walker mette a dura prova la pazienza dell'ascoltatore per circa settantacinque
minuti (forse ne bastavano la meta`), ma bisogna riconoscergli del talento
nell'orchestrare queste mini-sinfonie cacofoniche.
Walker ha poi registrato da solo (a nome AMP Studio)
il singolo Colorful Clouds For Acoustics (Darla, 1997),
l'EP Heart And Soul Dissolve (Darla, 1997),
e il singolo Misstype Dolittle (Earworm, 1997).
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The double EP
Perception (Darla, 1997), almost totally improvised, is made of
four extended pieces for a total of 88 minutes. While the self-indulgent
pieces do not achieve the nirvana of the major works, they do show a more
languid and placid attitude towards ambient music.
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(Translation by Walter Consonni/ Tradotto da Walter Consonni)
Il doppio EP Perception (Darla, 1997), quasi completamente improvvisato,
e` composto da quattro lunghi brani per un totale di 88 minuti.
Anche se i pezzi, autoindulgenti,
non conseguono il nirvana dei lavori maggiori, tuttavia mostrano una piu`
languida e serena attritudine verso la musica ambientale.
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On Stenorette (Kranky, 1998) Walker proves that he knows how to learn
from his past mistakes. Abandoning the long, self-indulging swoons of recent
outings, Walker returns to the format of brief, structured tracks.
In other words,
this is a collection of songs, some "sung" by the piano and some sung by
Karine Charff.
The piano leaves a strong mark on the music, thanks to
melancholy patterns that are reminiscent of Brian Eno's
Music For Airports (particularly in the eerie Just Ice)
and invent a rarified form of lounge balladry
(the dejected atmosphere of Songe).
The syncopated and ethereal synth-pop of Tomorrow relies on a rich
tapestry of piano notes.
On the other hand, while Robert Hapmson helps fill the
(production) blanks with his sampled guitar loops. Walker and Hampson concoct
dramatic effects that give the music a much more intense and almost manic
feeling.
Outlier is sheer violence, emerging in the form of metallic distortions
from a bubbling magma of electronic noises.
Tango Non displays the driving, savage fury of
Suicide and
Stooges coupled with an insistent riff a`
la Led Zeppelin.
The Nico-esque lament of You Are Here is set against an almost
symphonic backdrop that even borrows
ideas from Pink Floyd (the Welcome To The Machine-like wall of vibrating
noise, a helicopter sample, a martial rhythm).
Zoe is the most experimental piece: loud distorted guitar and keyboard utter melodies that are juxtaposed with a sample of disconnected vocals over a
dub-like industrial rhythm.
Sunflower, that adapts
Cocteau Twins' dream-pop to
Walker's hypnotic guitar shuffle, sounds like pop music compared with the rest.
Stenorette has a heart and a mind,
whereas Astral... only had a (very long) name.
This marks a return to form for an artist who is easily prey to fashionable
sounds, but who displays true talent when challenged by new ideas.
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A.M.P. Studio is the solo project of Richard Walker.
Syzygy (Ochre, 1998) offered a bizarre mixture of
ambient and psychedelic music, and the two suites of the
mini-album Lost/ Found (Fourth Dimension, 1999), also known as
Unconscious Country,
steered towards avantgarde music, but
Alien Registration Office (Ochre, 2000) returns to the
rock song format, albeit with a German twist (Can and Faust).
Walker is experimenting with loops, drones and samples in a childish manner,
and only occasionally finds an intriguing combination.
Recorded in 1999 during their European tour, Amp's
Saint Cecilia Sinsemilla (Space Age, 2001) recycles some tracks of
Stenorette and adds a few new songs.
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Amp's L'Amour Invisible (Space Age, 2002) does not break any new ground,
but offers the usual dose of classy, dreamy trip-hop.
The reformed Amp (Richard Walker, Karine Charff, Olivier Gauthier, Jan Zert)
is quite a different ensemble than it used to be, much more eclectic (running
the gamut from the poppy Curious Smile to the experimental
Glasshouse Jam) and specializing in surreal ambience
(Junkyard Blues).
The triple-CD All Of Yesterday Tomorrow (Rroopp, 2007)
collects singles, compilation tracks and rarities.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da xxx)
Se sei interessato a tradurre questo testo, contattami
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