The fourth collaboration between electronic composer Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek, and violinist, violist and vocalist Anne Bakker, in a work that merges and contrasts Bakker's string work and wordless vocals with soundscape, obscured field recordings and concrete sounds, using consonance and dissonance to create emotional pressure and release.
Label: Where To Now? Catalog ID: WTN63 Squidco Product Code: 29279
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2020 Country: Netherlands Packaging: Cardboard sleeve Recorded by the artists and mixed in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in December, 2019.
"Rutger Zuydervelt aka Machinefabriek needs no introduction - a hugely prolific Electronic Experimenter who has recorded for labels such as Type, Digitalis, Dekorder, Western Vinyl, and many many more, Where To Now Records are truly humbled to handle his latest collaborative work Oehoe. Produced in collaboration with viola/violinist Anne Bakker, a classically trained solo artist in her own right, and currently performing strings as part of Agnes Obel's band, Machinefabriek here has sown a landscape of Anna's raw violin, viola, and vocal improvisations into a stirring body of work which merges tradition, experimentation, and whimsical curiosity to create a distinctively unique album which is both deeply moving and playfully dissonant in equal measure.
Given that Anne's improvised vocals are wordless throughout, it is to Rutger's absolute credit that he has assembled and transcended these intonations to often devastating emotional effect. Anna's vocal experiments exude classical polyphonic antiquity, they lushly hover above her own Reichian minimalist string arrangements, and Machinefabriek's deeply brooding, cacophonic synthesized soundscapes. Across these 10 pieces we delve into a world which seamlessly moves between a state of harmonious contentment; or a very murky calm, to moments of lively ecstasy, and deep deep down to a vast and brooding melancholy."-Where To Now Records
"Oehoe is a collaboration with Anne Bakker, whose viola, violin and wordless vocals are woven throughout the tapestry. The album's title is translated "eagle-owl," which seems appropriate as the owl is a symbol of wisdom, a gift sorely needed right now. Other titles are translated penny (good for making wishes in a fountain), gesture and forward. From these we can glean the positive nature of the release, which possesses an otherworldly timbre, bordering on sci-fi (you're welcome, Rutger!). One can imagine drifting in space, coming into contact with an alien species whose language is akin to that of "Sirene." The only difference: as a siren, Bakker is benign. There are no rocks to crash upon, only soft lights and permission to dock. The lasers and taps of this track seem like cautious attempts at communication; one early sound (00:28-00:40) even seems like a meow. We hope the captain has brought fish.
The combination of strings, voice and electronics also recalls This Mortal Coil, whose triptych of releases from 1984-91 still manages to sound timeless. The three-part title track offers an ongoing chorus of sorts, a unifying glue. But the beauty of the release is that it comforts as it disorients, a curious combination. In "Harrewar" (no Dutch translation; Hausa for "The Harrowing"), sudden string passages topple head-first into hungry gears. The halting tone is akin to that of "Barker," an excellent Machinefabriek track released earlier this year. The culmination is "Voorwaarts," which develops a pulse, inviting newfound friends to swivel across the dance floor.
It's interesting to see the preponderance of female voices in A.I. depictions; perhaps one can blame HAL 9000 for ruining it for men. Bakker's voice is combined with electronics in order to sound alien. In other projects, electronic voices are fed through computers in order to sound human. There's no telling where Bakker ends and Machinefabriek begins; one would need a Turing Test to untangle the threads. But comfort is comfort, no matter the source. The cyborg nature of this release is an example of the positive melding of humanity and technology, a sign that maybe, just maybe, we're moving in the right direction after all."-Richard Allen, A Closer Listen