ANBB - Mimikry

It begins with a single scream, which then expands to fill the entire auditory field. After about two minutes into the first track "Fall", the filters begin to slice and dice that scream and then its played back as a tapestry of octaves which are softly spoken over by Blixa Bargeld whilst the synthesis machinations of Alva Noto run amok spiraling further and further into pure feedback. Then silence. A few heartbeats later, delicate piano appears and Blixa's voice returns in a gentle, entreating almost conversational manner: everything you do is an engravement.

This is the first album to issue forth from this rather reclusive pair, and if you like it introspective then you've found your home.

Get this, they do a pair of covers. "I wish I was a Mole in the Ground" and the classic am radio ballad "One". I should stress that this is not the torch song from Ireland's chapter of the Steve Jobs needs more money foundation. It's actually pretty touching to hear Blixa sing this one, as more than anyone else out there, he's spent a lot of time being a very isolated fellow. Even when with Neubauten, he's an island unto himself. A lot of people were somewhat taken aback by this record, but if you have seen Bargeld solo then you know he's been sowing the seeds of this release for a very long time. Don't think Alva Noto is playing along for appearances, there's some incredible tension in the music which was created here. "Once Again" is taut like a bow string about to snap on a Stradivarius violin. Tightly wound interconnecting threads of near melody are compressed to the point of disappearing entirely. To equate this work with a black hole isn't off the mark. The disc itself is black as coal, the characters anbb are printed on it in a blackened font. Concealment may well be the point of "Mimikry". How much can be slipped by the casually listening public ears of indifference.

"You, you as an insect, you mimic yourself" is the main theme of the title track which is built upon wheezing, mechanized sounds and a broken, broken little beat. Blixa mutters his ways through multiple overdubs weaving the word 'Mimicry' into a very complex tale of pathology, genus and species quantification. This one takes me back to the days when bands like Clock DVA included novellas with their albums and singles about the limits of technology applied to man. This pair take it far afield of such laboratory purity. They're the errant pathogens who somehow got into the clean room, the strain of bacteria which exists on Earth but is not of it.

They even get academic with the song titles, for example, "Bernsteinzimmer" is clearly an homage to the composers Leonard Bernstein and Hans Zimmer but examine the letters a bit closer.... you can almost make out the word Einstur. Listen closely to the strings on this one and they bear an uncanny similarity to the arrangement on the classic EN song "Armenia". This is the level of detail Alva and Blixa operate on with their first collaborative release. There's an EP for this thing also, which pushes the surreal meter beyond the pale. "Ret Marut Handshake" is not what I'd think to put out as a stand alone but some months before "Mimikry" tip toed into reality, this song of blazing abrasively constructed misanthrope was the taster of things to come. There are songs on it which do not appear on "Mimikry" and just to frustrate you even more, there is an insanely limited box set version of this album which features two more songs not on here. Happy hunting! Mar 16 2011