The Explosion – The Explosion
In May 2014, Chateau Flight released Terry Riley Covers, a two-track 12” that saw them deliver fresh interpretations of two works by the great American minimalist, with the assistance of new wave French electronic explorers Cabaret Contemporain. As collaborations go, it was a rip-roaring success, with both tracks taking Riley’s works in fresh directions whilst retaining the original spirit and ethos of his compositional method.
The Explosion
The Explosion
Versatile Records
2LP, CD, Digital
It’s perhaps unsurprising that Chateau Flight member Gilbert “Gilb’r” Cohen was keen to continue the collaboration beyond the strict remits of that particular project. To that end, he invited Cabaret Contemporain members Giani Caserotto (guitars) and Fabrizio Rat (piano/synthesizer) to join him in the studio for a series of free-and-easy jam sessions. Some 17 months on, the results of some of those sessions form the basis of the trio’s debut album as The Explosion.
Predictably, this eponymous album explores similar territory, drawing not only on the work of great classical minimalists such as Riley, Reich and Glass, but also the 1970s ambient and experimental electronic work of Robert Fripp, Brian Eno and, to a lesser extent, David Toop. Throw in nods to droning post-rock and early ‘90s ambient (particularly Fripp’s FFWD collaboration with The Orb, and some of System 7’s early ambient explorations), and you have an impressive and wholly complimentary palette of influences.
The Explosion, then, is an ambient album with arty roots and lofty ideals. Of course, these alone mean little if the resultant music is sub-par or forgettable. Happily, Cohen, Caserotto and Rat have produced something of rare beauty, which somehow retains the fluidity and energy generated by the project’s improvisational roots.
This is superbly demonstrated by the album’s undoubted high point, the 13-minute “Let’s Love”. The track initially unfurls slowly via soft electronics, subtle bass guitar notes and lilting, Fripp and Steve Hillage-style guitars. The piano motifs beneath are cyclical, but the hazy guitar textures and alien electronics that catch the ear seem to be slowly evolving. The later introduction of a sharp, spacey synthesizer arpeggio successfully shifts the track’s focus, lifting it into another dimension altogether.
This kind of subtle, complimentary progression – a feature of great American minimalist works – is what lifts The Explosion beyond the realms of bog standard ambience. It can be heard in the exotic, Indian-influenced drone textures, psychedelic guitars and gentle electronic hum of “Raga 4” – an inspired choice as an album closer – and in the album’s most surprising moment, the horror-influenced, post-rock-meets-blazed techno pulse of “Disco Blind”. While this sudden explosion of rhythm at first feels a little out of place, its’ pursuit of mind-bending hypnotism via contemporary psychedelia is in keeping with the album’s overriding approach.
Even the tracks that offer less obvious progression, such as Duke Ellington tribute “The Duke”, and the deep space ambience of “Three Worlds”, bristle with minimalist intent. The latter, all bubbling, overlapping electronics, head-in-the-clouds synths and sci-fi effects, is reminiscent of two overlooked ambient classics from the past two decades, I:Cube’s Live At The Planetarium, and Sun Electric’s 30.7.94 Live. Both of those sets were based on live recordings, so it’s no surprise that The Explosion’s take on the same sound – produced during extended jam sessions, remember – should be similarly inspired.
Matt Anniss
Tracklisting:
1. The Duke
2. Stratus
3. Three Worlds
4. Disco Blind
5. Let’s Love
6. Raga 4