No matter how much of my time I sink into musical explorations, no matter how exhaustive my searches, I always stumble across new musical territory on occasion that reminds me just how much wonderful music I’m regularly missing. Thanks to a brief, but stupendously helpful posting at the K-RAA-K blog a few weeks ago, I’ve sailed straight into some new territory, an impressive expanse of previously unexplored musical terra icognita called Blaastaal. Blaastaal is Belgian duo Mik Prims and Bert Lezy’s monthly experimental, tape-fueled, kitchy radio broadcast/podcast. Generally (and it’s difficult to generalize), blaastaal sounds like surrealist musical painting in pointillism. From a distance, the show takes the impression of a colorful cacophonous mess, contradictory elements residing comfortably side-by-side. Up close, the layers of sound gain more clarity, drones, found sound, samples and analog burrs festooning a colorful and consistently mysterious core playlist (I hardly recognize a handful of names from each show). It’s difficult, usually impossible, to say with any certainty whether you’re experiencing a musician’s offering untouched, or soaked, stained and tainted in layers of tape-manipulated reinvention.
Describing music is usually as constructive as blowing on a cup of steaming lava, so I’ve thrown together a quick mp3 mix highlighting some favorite moments from recent shows. The static you’ll hear periodically divides the selections, serving as a sort of audio ellipsis. I assure you I’m doing little justice to the show, and it could only really be fully appreciated as originally presented, but alas, here is the sample nonetheless:
more below… Continue reading ‘Blaastaal; Experimental Collage Radio’
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