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Venetian Snares is the moniker of Canadian electronic musician Aaron Funk,
one of the auteurs of drum'n'bass, who debuted with a series of limited-edition
cassettes, singles and the CD-Rom Greg Hates Car Culture (1999).
He established his trademark "breakcore" style of complex, brutal, distorted, skittering, whirling drum programming
(with a manic passion for the 7/4 time signature and
often only consisting of "clicks and cuts")
on
Printf("shiver in eternal darkness/n") (2000), containing the lengthy
Stuck and Mouth,
and especially
Doll Doll Doll (Hymen, 2001), an intimidating sequence of longer visceral pieces (Befriend A Childkiller, Pressure Torture, All The Children Are Dead).
After the mediocre
Making Orange Things (2001),
Songs About My Cats (2001) and
Higgins Ultra Low Track Glue Funk Hits 1972-2006" (2002),
Aaron Funk delivered two more specimen of his innovative breakcore:
the ten-minute Twisting Ligneous, off 2370894 (2002), and
the 15-minute A Giant Alien Force More Violent & Sick Than Anything You Can Imagine (2002).
Winter In the Belly of a Snake (Planet Mu, 2003) was a song-oriented effort that tried to channel Venetian Snares' chaotic energy into more conventional and moody structures.
The EP Venetian Snares (Planet Mu, 2003) contains the reggae-tinged Hand Throw and Too Young (that plunders Motley Crue's Too Young To Fall In Love).
Find Candace (2003) finally resurrected the ambitions of
Doll Doll Doll. If Mercy Funk managed to inject grace and
elegance into Aaron Funk's frantically percussive method,
Befriend a Childkiller Remix was
the quintessential digital pastiche of glitchy videogame-like drill'n'bass.
The other pieces mostly attempted to coin a dynamic language
out of the noise.
Find Candace displayed the man's skills at programming with
sequences of power-drilling alternating with almost ambient tranquillity.
The nine-minute Children's Limbo even plunged into a drum-less depression
reminiscent of expressionist chamber music.
Dolleater feels like it is switching between water games and fireworks.
The Chocolate Wheelchair Album (2003) contained
the catchy Einstein-Rosen Bridge
and the nine-minute Marty's Tardis.
The singles Badminton (2003) and Moonglow (2004) experimented
with jazz.
The EP Horse and Goat (Sublight, 2004) repeated the usual drill'n'bass routine.
Huge Chrome Cylinder Box Unfolding (Planet Mu, 2004)
and
the "Hungarian" album
Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett (Planet Mu, 2005) introduced strings,
horns and piano (sometimes omitting the rhythm altogether) in order to structure the chaos into emotional and melodic "songs".
The discovery of melodrama signaled a complete change in psychology, from
punk terrorist to nostalgic dreamer and existential philosopher.
The ebullient atmosphere of Szerencsetlen is a misleading manifesto,
blending drum'n'bass and classical music in the form of frantic breakbeats coupled with snippets of orchestra.
The decadent atmosphere of ™ngyilkos Vasarnap, created by slower beats and a female lounge singer, is a better introduction to the mood of the album.
A sense of angst and tension exudes from the rhythm-less electro-acoustic intermezzo Felbomlasztott Ment”kocsi.
A haunting string melody traverses the turbulent rhythmic carpet of Szamar Madar.
The symphonic Hajnal picks up speed, fueled by beats and gypsy violin,
but projects a gloomy outlook that is fulfilled by
M sodik Galamb, a sophisticated interplay of cacophonous and pompous elements, approaching the sonic chaos of a videogame.
Both the intricacy of the beats and the emotion of the orchestra culminate with
the nine-minute Ketsarku Mozgalom, that includes an intermezzo with
samples of natural sounds and of human voices.
However, it was merely a parenthesis, an intellectual divertissment.
The mini-album
Winnipeg is a Frozen Shithole (2005)
returned to his ferocious non-stop drill'n'bass rhythm, and with a vengeange.
What makes Winnipeg Is A Frozen Shithole sound so angry is not only
the bombardment of beats but the whipping waves of electronic glissandoes.
Winnipeg Is A Dogshit Dildo bounces like a ping-pong ball and accelerates
to epileptic speed.
Winnipeg Is Fucking Over sounds like an army of panzers advancing through
thick fog.
Rarely has a piece of music radiated so much hate like
Die Winnipeg Die Die Die Fuckers Die does, virtually coining the sonic
equivalent of spits and middle fingers. After five minutes it hints at a
music-hall parody of life in the industrial town.
Winnipeg As Mandatory Scat Feed closes the album with a pure display of
acrobatic (percussive) skills, the ultimate contorsion.
Despite being drum'n'bass and not punk-rock,
Winnipeg is a Frozen Shithole harkens back to
Steve Albini's early hyper-punk bands.
The album Meathole (Planet Mu, 2005), seasoned with samples from horror film sountracks,
increased the degree of frenzy
(Des Plaines, Sinthasomphone, Szycag).
Cavalcade Of Glee And Dadaist Happy Hardcore Pom Poms (2006)
sounded like a confused attempt at introducing new elements (11/4 time
signatures, ambient music).
The existential crisis was also evident in the catchy EPs Hospitality (2006) and Pink + Green (2007), containing the spastic
Husikam Rave Dojo.
The 10" EP Sabbath Dubs (Kriss, 2007) contains dubstep versions of Black Sabbath classics.
Aaron Funk de facto continued the Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett epic on
the mostly rhythm-less orchestral instrumentals of
My Downfall (Planet Mu, 2007), credited to the Venetian Snares,
a much more interesting avenue than the traditional Venetian Snares sound.
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