Ekoclef - Tapeswap

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4...according to our Business Lady on Thu 03 Nov, 2011.

I've reviewed too many records in one sitting to do a good job of this. I've got review fatigue and this is a challenging little tape release so if I don't do it justice then I apologise. 'Tapeswap' is a collaboration between Ekoplekz (Nick Edwards) and Bass Clef (Ralph Cumbers) that was produced in a very organic, old school way, ie; the lads traded tapes and produced the music independently of each other on four-track machines. Eko kicked things off with one channel of music with the tape then making it's way back and forth through the Royal Mail system until all the channels were all full. I totally dig this approach as it gives the artists the opportunity to express themselves in the independent fashion they are accustomed too as solo artist whilst taking advantage of the possible quirks and eccentricities that may occur from a collaboration. The result is two sides of astral tranquility that absorb all sorts of abstract musical concepts and sounds along the way. The closet comparison I can think off is the abstract layering of Astral Social Club's most recent material. Though comparatively less hyperactive in approach 'Tapeswap' shares a lot of the same hallmarks of Neil Campbell's work. Again, my concentration span is weak at the moment so I'll leave it at that.

EKOCLEF is a new collaboration between Nick Edwards (Ekoplekz) and Ralph Cumbers (Bass Clef).

It was recorded using the severely obsolete process of tape-swapping. Since both artists use similar four-track cassette recorders it was fairly simple. Well, apart from having to entrust the tapes to the semi-occult vagaries of the Royal Mail postal system....

First Eko recorded a whole length of tape (about 23 minutes), using one channel only. The tape was sent to Clef who added sounds onto the second channel. Then the whole process was continued until all four channels were filled. At the same time a second tape started by Clef was going in the opposite direction.

When the two tapes were full, the album was finished. No computer, no endless tweaking, no fighting about which take was best or who should do the guitar solo. Each fresh set of overdubs had come as a total surprise when they arrived in the post -pushing the songs into odd directions, veering off in to new territories, often unforeseen in the initial recordings. Sometimes well outside of each artists comfort zone, but still containing the spirit and audio signatures of both.

Tracks like “you have the clocks but we have the time” and “I was a tree in the forest...” take a strange and hazily psychotropic trip through the fourth world. On “lens flare oh yeah” and “G major severn” bright synths burst out into ecstatic chords. If a cold bassline takes you down an autobahn, a ghost of a sheffield pulse is never far behind.

If you will, an alternative soundtrack to Herzog's Fata Morgana, recorded in 82' (and then shelved or lost) where Eno took Conny Plank and Chris Carter out to Tubby's studio in trenchtown.

Ekoplekz is a a one-of-a-kind analogue explorer. His double cassette album “Memowrekz” (Mordant Music), the bass-heavy “Live At Dubloaded” (Further Records) and the recent “Intrusive Incidentalz volume 1” (Punch Drunk) have all sketched out a distinctive audio landscape. Somewhere between Radiophonic wonderlands, krautrock forests, abandoned industrial estates (as favoured by the likes of Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire) and the hollowed-out caverns of 70's dub echo chambers.

Bass Clef escaped from the confines of the dubstep scene in a haze of delayed trombone and modular synth frequencies. This year he released his third album 'Inner Space Break Free' (MAGIC + DREAMS) as well as the anthemic 'Rollercoasters Of The Heart' 12” for Punch Drunk. The stella- drenched, strobe-lit video for 'I think you are ready now...' showcasing some characteristically left-field choreography and costume changes, has clocked up a good few k of hits.

Tracklist:

1. you have the clocks but we have the time
2. lens flare oh yeah
3. tonight is a trap but the bait is great
4. we march triumphant over yr bones
5. wait a minute mister postman
6. skeletal turrets loom over the reservoir
7. fight fire with firefighters
8. TDK kabushiki-gaisha
9. G major severn
10. tical versus laudanum
11. I was a tree in the forest; they cut me down
12. keep the lighthouse burning bright and true tonight
13. M4 endless
14. sonic salvation
15. imperial