aporia #1
by rsn | Baltzer
An aporetic interrelationship is a state where two irreconcilable components are connected and meaningfully complement each other. The four improvisations explore the hopelessness of being shaped by contradictory forces from which one cannot escape. The dynamism that comes from getting started, trying things out, letting go and playing together is often phenomenal. Sounds and songs can be created that reproduce the vibrations of the live moment of the recording identically. This energy and atmosphere is perfectly reflected in ‘aporia #1’, the collaboration between guitarist Baltzer and rsn. Guitar and bass interweave, swell follows swell, scraps of melody creep into the background, a drone emerges, everything disintegrates. The songs bring the moment of creation to life. Sometimes you dream yourself into post-rock, then you turn towards drone and finally find yourself in a wide and open ambient landscape.
*
Thomas Rosen aka rsn continues his exploration into the universe of dronescapes with varying collaborators he started with a series of albums on attenuation circuit in 2024. In this latest chapter of his ongoing story of drone, he joins forces with Baltzer.
This album, co-released by the label Not Yet Remembered from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA, evokes the string-instrument based drone work of Phill Niblock. Although rooted in electronics and electric guitars, the warm textures of the pieces suggest the presence of bowed acoustic instruments. While the slow movement of the music matches the drone-minimalism of the likes of Tony Conrad or the aforementioned Phill Niblock, rsn and Baltzer's focus is more on gradual harmonic development than on the edgy microtonal beating in the overtone spectrum. As a result, this album accomplishes a constant synthesis of tension and release that makes it an instant classic of the 'drone ambient' genre.
File under: drone, ambient
ACU 1086
factory-produced CDr in Digisleeve
Released in 2025
limited to 100 copies
price: 10.00 EUR (excl. postage)
this is a joint-release by
attenuation circuit ° ACU 1086 ° 2025
attenuationcircuit.de ° attenuation-circuit@web.de
Not Yet Remembered ° NYR064
notyetremembered.bandcamp.com
***
COMPOSER: Thomas Rosen, Sebastian Brohn
INSTRUMENTS: Bass, Guitar
RECORDING ENGINEER:Thomas Rosen
MIXING ENGINEER: Dennis Stillinger
MASTERING ENGINEER: Dennis Strillinger, Andreas Brinke
PHOTOGRAPHER: Thomas Rosen
LAYOUT DESIGNER: N
rsn-music.com
instagram.com/n_baltzer_project
mail@rsn-music.com
n_baltzer_project@gmx.net
Also available here: http://www.discogs.com/seller/dependenz?sort=price&sort_order=asc&q=attenuation+circuit&st
VITAL WEEKLY
Usually, a release which separates the artists by / is, in my book, a split release, but in this case, I think it is a collaboration, and perhaps & would be more appropriate. I reviewed work by RSN (or rather rsn) before (Vital Weekly 1431), and it’s the brainchild of Thomas Rosen, also a member of [ B O L T ]. The two releases I heard were solo, but I know there have been a few collaborations already. This one is with Baltzer, a new name and behind that is Sebastian Brohn. They work with electronics and electric guitars and created four lengthy pieces, which, at 77 minutes, make this quite a lengthy release. The press information mentions Tony Conrad and Phill Niblock, and the latter is challenging to hear in the four pieces, and Conrad? Well, maybe, in some drone-near feedback use of amplification in these pieces. Perhaps it’s the guitar, but I connect the music with the bigger picture of drone rock, with people like N and Multer, or Dirk Serries’ current guitar music. There is a fair bit of amplification, and that creates some distance, like howling from afar. Throughout these pieces, have a minimal development, but a different kind of minimalism than those mentioned US masters. More is happening here, and below the droney surface, there’s that shimmer of melody, especially in the shortest piece, the album’s closing, the very gentle, ‘Aporia #1.4’. In the opening piece, the two slowly open all gates and reach a wall of sound, full of distortion, without being too noisy. There is quite some variation in these pieces, all having a firm base in the world of drone rock, and given the length of this release, the variation is a great thing—quite a spacious release, quite dark and a lovely atmospheric mood.
https://www.vitalweekly.net/number-1487/
BAD ALCHEMY
Thomas Rosen, kurz rsn, der Dröhnminimalist in Mülheim (Ruhr), hat sich in „Indistinction“, „Porosity“ und „Clarity“ vertieft und auch schon erste Kreise gezogen um „Dilation“ [Aufweitung], „Compaction“ [Verdichtung] und „Approaches“ [Annäherungen. Drogen und Rausch?]. Mit Aporia #1 (ACU 1086 / Not Yet Remembered, NYR064) fügt er nun dem Zusammenklang mit Merle Louise, N und Nagen den Einklang mit Sebastian Brohn alias BALTZER hinzu. Auch der, mit seiner Vorgeschichte als Psychedelic Schrammelrocker mit Orange Swan vor Ort in Mülheim, hat sich schon mit Hellmut Neidhardt (N) gitarristisch verzahnt. Und ist damit der richtige Mann für die saharastaubige Monochromie von vier Sandwürmern, die sich, surrend und brausend, unter den Dünen von Arrakis dahinfräsen. Wobei zu 'monochrom' die Vorstellung eines liquiden Rothko gehört, eines synästhetischen Niblock, as drone as drone can. Ein Sich-Wellen und 'aufschreiendes' Schwellen, ein brütendes Mäandrieren, die melancholische Erkenntnis existenzieller Ausweglosigkeit. Die Gitarrenfrequenzen erinnern an schmerzlichen Hörnerklang, an Akkorde einer Elektroorgel. Man fließt, man driftet, man badet in zartbitterem Moll. Mit zuletzt dem ostinaten Ruf von silberhellen Kaskaden, die mit ihrem dunklen Echo spielen.
www.badalchemy.de
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