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Council Of Desperation / Elysium
POPTONES
Delivering a moody, sinister sounding groove that fits somewhere between the Krautrock manoeuvres of Can, the atmospheric shuffle of Boards Of Canada and the avant garde leanings of Harold Budd, All Traps Set are an outfit dealing in the strange but wonderful.
The brainchild of Chris Walmsley, All Traps Set make music that centres around hypnotic drum patterns and the eerie wash of electronic disturbance; single COUNCIL OF DESPERATION a dark and sinister sounding affair that builds from its tribal drum beats to a fractured symphony of electronic interference and groove laden charm, just think the Aphex Twin meets Can soundtracking the latest twisted J-Horror flick. ELYSIUM does more of the same, All Traps Set once again dishing out dark and intriguing sounds built around infectious drum grooves.
Deliciously sinister sounding stuff, COUNCILS OF DESPERATION sees All Traps Set emerging as an outfit worthy of your rapt attention.
BIOGRAPHY
All Traps Set is Chris Walmsley, a child born of an epic Morricone-psychedelic-kraut rock groove under the star of Jaki from the German legends Can and the street beats of Erik B and Rakim - has been drumming for The Laughing Windows and Viking Moses. Yet, it was his main job as the beats maestro for Voice of the Seven Woods that he truly got Poptones attention - why? He handed us a demo of a track at a Voice of the Seven Woods show and told us - all his recordings are based on just drums and hints of moog. Yes. The new single you are about to hear "Council of Desperation" is built out of drums.
Prepare to get lost in the groove.
Creating music that states or describes is easier than creating music that evokes. Think about Ennio Morricone's superlative soundtrack for 'The Thing'. Sounds are employed with masterfully subtle timing to form what has to be one of the most dread inducing scores of all time. It is music that appears starkly minimalist but somehow it buries itself in your mind. Once heard you don't forget it and it does not lose it's power to touch a raw nerve. Producing music that penetrates the psyche in this manner requires great skill and imagination.
Listening to All Traps Set is akin to listening to the most successful, memorable soundtracks you have ever heard. It is only when you recover from the pure cinematic power of this music and the host of scenarios it can summon that you might consider records that have influenced the sound.
Elysium is a ponderous, enigmatic piece awash with drifting chimes and shimmering cymbals. A building synthesiser drone behind the percussion suggests a vein of menace a la Morricone but the overall effect is entrancing mystery. The excellent Can-like drums are a propellent structure behind which sounds shift and echo mesmerically.
It would be a temptation with this type of music to overplay sinister effects but Elysium displays a powerful restraint and economy.
Council Of Desperation has the cryptic ring of a Joy Division title and listening to it there is a definite trace of the jagged and disturbing sound-scapes that they specialised in. But the sound of All Traps Set is less aggressive and more hauntingly mysterious. A suspenseful drum-roll builds before Council of Desperation establishes a taught, oppressive rhythm. The percussion creates an immediate sense of restless movement behind which the more dissonant sounds play. Brilliantly interfused shards of feedback and buzzing cymbals suggest a seeping sense of unease that grows gradually into menace. The elements are consistently handled with astounding tact and timing. Council of Desperation is icily unnerving and at times conjures encounters in the lonely corridors of the Overlook Hotel.
All Traps Set have a powerful, finely calculated sound. It is music that overflows with the ambience of strange and sinister places and has the potential to induce eerie visions. Look out for All Traps Set out on tour with Voice of the Seven Woods. And for his next release with Edan and Cherrystones.
LINE UP
Chris Walmsley
DISCOGRAPHY
COUNCIL OF DESPERATION (Poptones>2007)
Council Of Desperation
Elysium
LINKS
All Traps Set>www.myspace.com/alltrapsset
FURTHER LISTENING
Can
Boards Of Canada
Neu!
Review date: April 2007 |
