Road Cone
Hochenkeit : I love you (1999)**°°
This is one of those new bands that have elements which derive from older scenes, (krautrock, acid folk), but which are, with another foot calmly stepping towards to the new, stimulating modern area of well produced sounds, a scene I will promote when a group is able to use its creativity in it, and this group does.
The first track, "Ritual Nacirema" (-with acoustic guitars, one instrument I think will be the cumbus, a Turkish instrument, that sounds something like a sitar-banjo or something, but it could be a kind of "oddly prepared" guitar too, and harmonium mostly-) starts off with more or less 'stoner' or stoned Middle eastern mood with a completely acoustic droning sound, with a repetitive pattern, reminding me vaguely of a raga.
The third track is more instrumentally worked out with a beautiful (well recorded) "kitchen" middle eastern improvisation, titled "Pios Bori".
The track in between, with a fitting slowly evolving vibe, has something of an adventurous, but still very minimal nature. "Smoking the astronaut" (-other soundfile-) starts out in a relaxed mode, but focusses more energy ( by adding drums, and something which sounds like an amplified violin, with mostly (spacey) electronic effects) to a more fantastic psych form, which slowly goes over the top.
"Frightning diaspora, drifting cranes" is mixed in a more modern fashion, with semi-acoustic psych effects, harmonium, original melodic percussion, oddly tuned guitar playing with an eastern/middle eastern effect, resulting in a beautiful new form of (minimal and moody) psychedelica ? or whatever this may be, creating a semi-electronic effect, nicely produced withbasically still acoustic elements.
"Fuzzy Rumble Face" also shows no limitations in expressions. It's a short experimental track with loop-like semi-distorted (semi-acoustic?) sounds which actually sounds nice.
The CD closes like it started off, with two very middle eastern semi-raga tunes, like bedroom improvisations, entitled "I love you" and "Domestic Peace" (with some additional odd "singing" or humming).
Last track, "A Roomful of Sun" is a landscape-sound painting, drone like, as a mixture of analog electronics, harmonium and acoustic textures (with again, the strangely tuned guitar).
In its sometimes minimal expression Hochenkeit succeed completely in convincing me, (much more than most groups with such aproach do) of every detail.
