![\"Echohaus](\"http:\/\/www.mattcastille.com\/me\/wp-content\/upload\/2011\/04\/echohaus_011_edit.jpg\" "\\"echohaus_011_edit.jpg\\"")
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Cyclic Defrost: Felix Kubin & Ensemble Int\u00e9grales \u2013 Echohaus (Dekorder)<\/a>: “Felix Kubin, long a stick in the spokes of the mundane, manages to flip the script once more and deliver a distinctly wrong-footed move in a career that has specialised in just that. Although being credited predominantly on Echohaus, Kubin could be described as composer and producer, rather than a player in this scene. Hamburg-based Ensemble Int\u00e9grales descended into the bowels of Westwerk, once a squat and cultural nexus for left-field arts, now the recording studios of \u2018underground pop producer\u2019 Tobias Levin. The details of the recording process are rather fascinating, and do add a further layer to the understanding and appreciation of Echohaus. The Ensemble, led by Burkhard Friedrich and Barbara L\u00fcneberg, were recorded in separate rooms, connected only by headphones. The acoustic temperament of the room added the degree of echo in the haus, so to speak. Often seemingly drenched in reverb, no effects or reverb was added to the recording post-production.<\/p>\n The cover of this release features a nighttime shot of what I assume must be the Westwerk building. It\u2019s very reminiscent of that brutalist piece of public housing found on Victoria Rd, in the Sydney suburb of Gladesville \u2013 Blandville Court (never has a block of flats been bestowed with such an appropriate moniker). And there are further parallels to Echohaus in Blandville. Vignettes and moods slide by \u2013 the album doesn\u2019t really go anywhere, preferring a sombre mood to an exciting dynamic journey for the senses. Kubin\u2019s trademark lightness of touch and \u2018space-age\u2019 pop from previous releases is certainly absent from der Echohaus.<\/p>\n As an introduction to the album, \u2018Uncanny Valley\u2019s creak and thump of disconnected musicians and dusty Intonarumori, flag that Echohaus maybe shouldn\u2019t feature Kubin\u2019s name so predominantly in the title. Rather appropriately, further on, \u2018Nachtschicht (Night shift) f\u00fcr Russolo\u2019, features mournful strings, hanging chords and simple piano motifs, like a cross between Morton Feldman and Jan Jelinek, this is night music for ghosts and insects. There\u2019s not much going on in \u2018Zerschlage mein Herz, dreifaltiger Gott\u2019 other than delicate, high-pitched bowed violin, a deep rumbling spasmodic bass and badly timed rimshots, yet it would make a fantastic soundtrack to a forgotten silent horror classic.<\/p>\n Central piece \u2018Schwarzer Fluss\u2019 starts in a flurry of keys, creaks and percussion. It flits through numerous creepy varieties of chamber music where extended techniques ramp up the tension inexorably, kind of like Kubin contemporary Marcus Schmickler\u2019s use of the Shepard tone on his latest album. The paranoia-inducing conclusion is reached via radio static, abased pianos and screeching orchestration. The remainder of Echohaus manages the odd serene moments in between the glowering soundscapes and chattering instrumentation. For the most part Echohaus is a descent into the underworld for Kubin and his companions, whereas previously the composer has preferred to orbit above the earth, somewhere in the stratosphere.”<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cyclic Defrost: Felix Kubin & Ensemble Int\u00e9grales \u2013 Echohaus (Dekorder): “Felix Kubin, long a stick in the spokes of the mundane, manages to flip the script once more and deliver a distinctly wrong-footed move in a career that has specialised in just that. Although being credited predominantly on Echohaus, Kubin could be described as composer … Continue reading Cyclic Defrost: Felix Kubin & Ensemble Int\u00e9grales \u2013 Echohaus (Dekorder)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4RRl-27p","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattcastille.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattcastille.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattcastille.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattcastille.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattcastille.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8147"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/mattcastille.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8148,"href":"http:\/\/mattcastille.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8147\/revisions\/8148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mattcastille.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattcastille.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mattcastille.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}