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Blaubac - 'perdurance' CD album

(Mark Rowland, Penny Black)  'Blaubac is the brainchild of Chris Smith, who specialises in producing smokey, stuffy dub influenced braindance.  Interest has grown in Blaubac over the past year, mainly due to the success Radiohead achieved with their decidedly braindance influenced album ‘Kid A’, which definitely took its cues from Blaubac on some of its tracks.  ‘Perdurance’ is a slightly brighter affair than it’s darker than dark predecessor ‘Wind Chill’, and takes on guest vocalists and musicians on tracks like the slightly funky ‘Photerene’ and gentle piano lead track ‘Velle’, which gives the album a slightly more organic and jazzy sound in places.  Within the sleeve of ‘Perdurance’ there is a passage that tries to explain what Perdurance is, ranting on about the "obvious flux of the galaxies, clouds, rivers or sea" and the "Microscopic world of the quantum realm".  Quite frankly, this positively reeks of concept album, but try not to let that put you off.  You just have to listen with a peg firmly attached to your nose. (I love this comment - ed)  Tracks range from sparse opener ‘Freyon’ and the dubby ‘Halocline' to the sludgy clatter of ‘Gongous’ and the tribal thump and jazzy synths of ‘Drsoph’, but best of all are the vocal lead tracks, especially ‘Velle’.  The addition of the vocals doesn’t stop the tracks from being unmistakably Blaubac, but they do add and enhance the music, giving it an extra element for Blaubac’s electronic sketches to organise themselves around.  This puts ‘Perdurance’ far above your average electronica album in its ability to form itself into proper songs without really compromising its sound. Chris Smith may have developed a taste for making concept albums, but we can but hope his next concept will be to base his music around singers.'

(Graham, Iocentral,  score: 5 out of 5)  'So what perdures? After the fantastic Surprisingly Pleasant EP and debut album, Wind Chill, Blaubac returns on the scene.  So the first fitting question of ‘any good?’ answers to – YES.  The immediately noticeable thing is the look and feel of more available funds behind the working.  The casing looks damn fine and, better still, the actual album sounds so much better than the other two releases.  As with Global Goon and BoC’s closely put out latest releases coming hand in hand, so does Perdurance and the recent Cinematic Orchestra piece ‘Everyday’.  The addition of vocals on ‘Photerene’ strikes similarities with Roots Manuva’s guesting with the CO.  As for the rest, Perdurance is packed with the familiar Blaubac sound and comes across extremely full of confidence.  Album starter ‘Freyon’ uses the drum and bass sample bank to confuse all who had just accustomed themselves with the moody, down tempo jazz and piano of Wind Chill to give a darker hard and fast beat that is far from expected.  As the album winds on so do the styles.  Track six, Drsoph, starts off sounding much alike Cylob’s ‘Mood Bells’ - then the hard and faster beats kick back in after their small absence.  This breaching out from familiar ground – Karine Charff’s sweet soothing vocal on ‘Velle’ bring to life the track and album so much more and it is in these kinds of directions that Blaubac should continue.  Pitting hard harsh sounds against soft and gentle jazzy creativity provides a neat contrast that gives this outstanding long player that extra bit of ‘umph’ that Wind Chill didn’t quite hold.  An overall wholly confident and bold hour of quiet loud.'

(Milton Keynes Citizen article, in anticipation of the Blaubac session on Garden Of Earthly Delights, CMRK, 16.10.02)  Mainstream they certainly aren't, but they deserve investigation nonetheless!  Apparently, the success of Radiohead's 'kid a' opus has increased the interest in the mob they called Blaubac - seemingly both bands are delivering brain dance sounds of a sort.  In 2000 the ensemble gave delivery of an ep with the great title 'surprisingly pleasant', and have since swelled their selection with the release of two albums.  You could almost call their noise progtronica apparently...  'Perdurance' (the latest disc, released back in June) has received top-smart reviews too.  "Your finest release so far" said some fella called Shane Quentin...  wait a moment, we know that name... no surprise to find them in session of the Q-Master's show The Garden of Earthly Delights tomorrow night then!  All we know is that you shouldn't expose the group to lighters, light bulbs, matches or fire: signed to Moth records y'see.  Let the music wing its way your way from 10pm.  Get the cable, get connected and get to 89.9fm.  Shane will meet you at the garden gates!  Have a bit of Blaubac any time you like by visiting: www.blaubac.co.uk

And Then Nothing & Stormcrow

(Laurence, Robots and Electronic Brains on both the 7"s)  'Two releases on this label that might be said to roam the same territory.  And what territory indeed!  This terrain is dark, dubby and truly funky hip hop where the dance inclined may do their thing and deceptive simplicity prevails.  And then there's always the beat.  And Then Nothing's 'Submerge' finds intrepid English explorers seduced by the dark rhythms of this strange world, whilst the flip brings out the groovy guitars.  Stormcrow take great delight in looping some colourful language on 'Pardon My French' and dubbing out on the superior b-side, 'Schtomp'.

Blaubac - 'wind chill' CD album

(Lane, Resonance Vol.9, No2)  'Pleasingly, Moth Records have sent me a copy of an album by the aforementioned Blaubac, entitled ‘wind chill’ (porce004): it’s a vast digital landscape you could get lost in as you twist and turn through its twilight grooves. Insidiously subtle Thomas Koneresque washes corner onto funky electric piano riffs that lead into full-blown jazz chord changes, snake-hipped chattering drum patterns and the tightly demarcated surreal diremptions of the early Squarepusher. Dark, defiantly structured songs and high quality production values suggest that this is an attempt by a new artist to create an album with longevity in an arena known for modishness. It’s obviously too early to suggest that it’s a potential classic, but it’s a classy album.’

(Jake Kennedy, Record Collector, Jan’01) ‘The opening track on this debut album (‘Slipside’) sets the scene perfectly for what follows. After a couple of minutes of sauntering bass, a precise skipping rhythm kicks in, taking you by surprise. After tricking you into thinking they’re modern dub, Blaubac turn in a leftfield techno classic. Such trickery is evident elsewhere on the disc, too. ‘Affine’ begins as what sounds like an experiment in copper-pipe manipulation, but melts seamlessly into a lounge-dub workout. The epic ‘Phoneme Shear’ another crisp fresh beat after 3 or 4 minutes of Drukqs-esque piano. And is that a flourish or two of a light-sabre deep in the mix? And strangulated jazz sax? Who knows? But it sounds good. If you’ve managed to get hold of their 2 singles (reviewed in Singles Bar) then you’ll know what to expect, and yet not have a clue! As Moth’s relatively small output continues to exceed all expectations, it seems as if the small Maidstone label can do no wrong. Indeed, Blaubac’s debut feels very much like a record it will be cool to say you bought when it came out. So do so.'

(Robert Stanton, Electronic Music Reviews, u.s. electronica site) '...interesting IDM type downbeat structures and melodic ideas going on at the same time... things shift and warm pad sounds revolve around traditional drum sounds, while what sounds like a bagpipe mixed with an electric sander or saw grind through the entire track for an incredibly original melodic effect... quite a few absolutely stunning and beautiful moments on this release... the ability to blend various styles together for a unique hybridization of styles, and, Wind Chill, does that extraordinarily well'

(The Wire) 'A cold intelligence blows through the fractured time signatures and technical dazzle of Wind Chill.  Written and produced by Chris Smith in the wake of his Surprisingly Pleasant ep, it effectively balances densely woven beats against ricocheting keyboards and bursts of random sound.  When his thoughts turn to darker ends, as on the sparse 'Blue II' and the tone clusters seething through the closing version of 'Slideslip', you can feel the chill factor rise.  Plenty to think about, but not much to shelter behind when the going gets tough!'

(Zeitgeist e-zine, Nov’01) ‘Curses, curses and thrice curses.  Oh yes, you think you’re being big and clever, sucking me in with your 7" singles, your And Then Nothing and your Stormcrow.  And now I sit here, trapped in a world of dark and experimental electronica, alone in an uncaring and strange world, not of my making.  The beats are dense, thoughts intertwine, melodies clash an crash. It runs through the back brain, teasing and tormenting.  We hate dynamic animation, we hate self-grandeur, we hate 5 Symphonic Pieces from ‘Lulu’.  We hate ‘Heart of Darkness’.  But deep within the mindless noise of techno beats that self-same heart.  And it takes us with it, against our wills, crying out.  Yet deep down in that secret place, we know we want to go, we just can’t admit it. Not yet.’

Blaubac - 'surprisingly pleasant' CD ep

(Zeitgeist e-zine, Dec’01) ‘Blaubac are good.  What you get is an ambient electronic experiment that takes on the appearance of a warm, human sound, yet remaining just out of reach.  Bordering on the edges of too clever, sometimes thinking about dipping a toe over, but teetering on the edge.  ‘Flicker Noise’ is the essential selection as Mixmeister Zee would say; the beats are assured, the presentation is elegant, and Z can foresee the day when Blaubac become the chilled out noise of choice.  Most defiantly recommended.’

(Graham, Iocentral)  'Once, every so often, you get a bit of luck in the random music-purchasing department and find yourself with a real piece of not so well known genius.  Enter Blaubac, their Surprisingly Pleasant EP is just that, surprisingly pleasant.  Giving us three tunes that have not only style but true feeling and love of music within them, Blaubac’s ambient experimental electronica is not all too dissimilar to that of Boards of Canada and Autechre.  But mostly the tracks hold onto themselves with the bass lines that BoC try to keep consistent but more often than not, fail.  Fear not, in Blaubac you will never be disappointed.  (score 4.5 out of 5)

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