Sebastian - New Hoppers Base

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Sebastian - New Hoppers Base

Artist:	Sebastian
Title:	New Hoppers Base
Label:	Burning Shed
Length(s):	68 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2003
Month of review:	[05/2004]

Line up

Ian Simpson - everything
Lewis Gill - everything

Tracks

1)	Fausty	8.10
2)	Point Redicule	5.31
3)	Sound Grave	5.22
4)	Hausender	14.09
5)	Avant Licks	5.59
6)	Modulate	10.48
7)	Vocalisations	6.54
8)	GGSP	5.57
9)	Abstract Paste	5.45

Summary

Although recorded in 2001, it seems this album has not been released long. It is the first Burning Shed disc to be reviewed here. As you might not know, the Burning Shed is a label initiated by Tim Bowness of No-Man, etc. of records on cdr which are only pressed on demand. The artwork is sparse and consistent over all titles: a light brown carton.

The music

Fausty is the opener which builds up very slowly. The music consists of waves of noisy synths, but always in the back. At some point, swirly synths set in, at slightly higher pitch, giving an overall cosmic and empty feel to the music. This continues to be the case the entire track, although the noise drops out at some point. Purely electronic, dark ambient material.

Point Redicule (which I mistyped as Ridicule at first; the mind tends to play tricks) is next up. What Sebastian is doing with electronics people like Fripp and Pinhas do with guitars. The end result is cold and sparse, minimal. This time around, more recognizable patterns set in, although the music stays cold and the sounds can be quite disturbing. On the other hand, the build up evident here feels natural, and maybe this is all I can demand of this type of music. The warm intensity of Fripp's soundscapes can not be found here, though. Towards the end the noise becomes more and more apparent, dominating the sound spectrum. Maybe we are getting closer here to the electronic musique concrete here, and I have to admit to missing the melodic side of things here. Sound Grave continues the line established thus far, again little or no melodies, just sound, pasted and played. When you have your headphones on you can be in for quite a surprise in the middle when some sharp and noisy sound enter the 'picture'.

Notwithstanding its length, Hausender is not much different: dark ambient, purely electronic with plenty of noise and harsh tones. Avant Licks has sounds that swing like a pendulum, back and forth. A band like Neu! is a reference here, although even more bare than that. There does seem to me more melody lurking.

Modulate is a long one, which has tones with plenty of sustain. The guys are fiddling around with the buttons on this one. Ahhh, those bleeps at the end! My ears.

Vocalisations continues the low volume ambientish material, and the final two tracks GGSP and Abstract Paste are no different.

Conclusion

This is not a rock album. It is purely electronic, reminiscent of Fripp and recent work by Pinhas. Compared to those, it does not have the melodicity and warmth of Fripp and not the rhythms of Pinhas. Pure dark ambient with plenty of noise and only very little melody. Most times the music is sparse, but at times, you are in for quite a scare, especially if you cranked up the volume to fully appreciate the ambient landscape. If that is your cup of tea: try them out, because the 'music' builds up well. On the other hand, I shall not be playing this album again, since for that there is too little happening for my tastes.