Anemone Tube (Germany) - In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality (2017) - REVIEW

 

Anemone Tube (Germany) - In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality (2017)

12” vinyl, 33 RPM / The Epicurean, Blossoming Fern

“The time has come, the inner essence of the

divine can be revealed and represented,

all mysteries may be unveiled and fear must cease.”

-Friedrich Schlegel - Lucinde (1799)

    I still haven’t found the words to even attempt to classify or talk about this project. I know it encompasses noise, industrial, field recordings and some dark ambient touches here and there, and that some people locate it within the boundaries of the post-industrial. Besides that, my emphasis and interest in Anemone Tube is due to their textures, their ability to unite caos and order; the fact that their warmth resembles the tepidity of a pool of oil and, at the same time, they keep their focus on nihilism and the void; the way they collapse internally and reflect on the scars and the learning process, trying to see oneself from the perspective of the others, etc.

I am aware of the subjectivity of these words, but these things are what have made me obsess over this work. Initially, we have thought of including his work Death Over China, where he did some field recordings that he deconfigures and uses to create layers with which he could criticise the devastation of nature, the ecocide, etc. We found these ideas and ways of working and approaching things very interesting, there is no doubt about that. This album, however, has impacted us more deeply, and even if we aren’t very familiar with this topic: “Related to Nietzsche`s notion of the Wagnerian music drama as a revelation of the abysmal truth about man (…) As he considers humanities to have reached their limit, young Nietzsche hopes to find ultimate spiritualization and idealization in the reborn myth. Music alone (“our German masters”), as the primeval form of poetry and revelation of true Dionysian wisdom, may achieve triumph over the Apollonian shallow world of apparition”. Regardless of his approach, we try to express it in our own words: we reckon it is not necessary to know absolutely everything about a certain thing to be able to enjoy it or develop a subjective point of view.

That being said, we are also aware of his interest and affinity for Buddhism, so we treat these works as if they were a sort of a small meditation or a search for comfort, diving into them to look for altered states of consciousness or room and time to reflect; being able to see a problem within ourselves, our negativity or our void, wondering why it is there, how did it come to us, thinking of ways to fix it, etc. rather than judging it. 

 

Special mention to the cover photographies, made in Saxon Switzerland/Germany 2016 by Stefan Hanser, the mastermind behind A. Tube.

 

    It isn’t music to wash the dishes to, but music that deserves searching for a moment to enjoy it or even camping at night and devote yourself fully to the task, accompanied by your dog or on your own, interspersing it with black metal while you stare at the sky and life (not necessarily living) might seem wonderful to you, something very likely to happen with tracks like Like the Streaming of a Giant River, Life is Passing, without ever Turning Around, which might make you indulge in auto-suggestion and experience fear that someone could visit you during the night. At the same time, it also may take you by surprise to encounter some nostalgia while listening to the fifty-second track Terror of Nature, close to those childhood videogames, whose atmosphere brings you back to Resident Evil I or Tomb Raider II. It isn’t a sickening or excruciating nostalgia; I would say that interlude caught me off-guard and made me smile. 

The tracks containing more noise can be similar to each other at first, but they differ when you listen to them closely more than once. That doesn’t deter us from thinking about what we found in his Golden Temple, therefore the element of surprise might be lost. It is important to point out the collaboration of Monocube (Ukraine), as well as Post Scriptvm and Pacific 231 throughout the entire album.

In summary, due to preferences and personal experience, I will still choose Golden Temple; maybe I see a rounded off, more mature result to its entirety. However, what stands out for me is the strength and impact of his layers, textures and the way he filters and coordinates all the elements. I couldn’t pinpoint how exactly, but I’m left on a contemplative state, even more so than a meditative one.

Highlights: personally, I would start from Perfect Dream, Perpetual Dawn - it reminds me of the sea waves hitting a body -, or Evangelium der Weltharmonie. If you still like it, you could follow with In the Vortex of the Dyonisian Reality II, Like the Streaming of a Giant River… // https://epicureanescapism.bandcamp.com/ // Originally posted in I Don't Give a Fuck #4 bookazine.

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Anemone Tube (Germany) - In the Vortex of Dionysian Reality (2017)

Vinilo 12”, 33 RPM / The Epicurean, Blossoming Fern

“Ha llegado el momento, la esencia interior de

lo divino puede ser revelada y representada,

todos los misterios pueden ser desvelados y

el miedo debe cesar.”

-Friedrich Schlegel - Lucinde (1799)

    Todavía no termino de encontrar palabras para intentar clasificar o hablar de este proyecto. Sé que cruza el noise, el industrial, grabaciones de campo, y toques de dark ambient y que la gente suele encuadrarlo en el terreno del post-industrial. Más allá de eso, mi énfasis e interés por Anemone Tube se debe a sus texturas, a su capacidad de aunar caos y orden, de que tan pronto semejen la calidez de una balsa de aceite, como que guarden un enfoque de nihilismo o de vacío; de colapsar interiormente y reflexionar sobre las cicatrices y el aprendizaje, de intentar verse a uno mismo desde la perspectiva de un tercero, etc.

Soy consciente de la subjetividad de estas palabras, pero eso es un poco en donde deriva mi obsesión por él. Inicialmente teníamos pensado incluir su trabajo Death Over China, en que toma grabaciones de campo realizadas en el país asiático que desconfigura y emplea para ir creando capas con las que realizar una crítica a la devastación de la naturaleza, al ecocidio etc. Sin duda nos parecieron ideas y nuevas formas de trabajar o enfocar las cosas bastante interesantes. Pero este disco nos ha calado mucho más, y aunque no controlemos la materia: “Related to Nietzsche`s notion of the Wagnerian music drama as a revelation of the abysmal truth about man (…) As he considers humanities to have reached their limit, young Nietzsche hopes to find ultimate spiritualization and idealization in the reborn myth. Music alone (“our German masters”), as the primeval form of poetry and revelation of true Dionysian wisdom, may achieve triumph over the Apollonian shallow world of apparition”. Y, aún obviando su enfoque, intentaremos ponerle nuestras propias palabras. Creemos que no es necesario saber absolutamente todo para poder disfrutar algo, o esbozar un subjetivo punto de vista.

Dicho esto, somos conscientes de su interés y acercamiento al budismo, por lo que consideramos estos trabajos como una pequeña meditación o como la búsqueda de un confort, de zambullirse en ellos para buscar estados de conciencia alterada o espacios y momentos de reflexión. De ver ese problema en nosotros, esa negatividad o ese vacío, pero sin juzgarlo, sino preguntándonos por qué está ahí, por qué ha llegado a nosotros, cómo puedo tratar de arreglarlo, etc.

No se trata de música para fregar los platos, sino para buscar el momento, o incluso acampar de noche y ponerse en materia: acompañado de tu perro o en soledad, intercalado con temas de black metal mientras observas el cielo y la vida – que no necesariamente vivir – puede parecerte maravillosa, lo cual ocurre con temas como: Like the Streaming of a Giant River, Life is Passing, without ever Turning Around y sugestionarte por miedo a que nadie venga a hacerte una visita en mitad de la noche. Pero a su vez, también sorprende encontrarse con cierta nostalgia, cercana a videojuegos de la infancia y su atmósfera que mi cabeza remite al Resident Evil 1, o al Tomb Raider II, con los cincuenta segundos que dura Terror of Nature. Y no es una nostalgia enferma y lacerante, sino que ese interludio me pilla fuera de guardia, a la par que me produce una sonrisa.

 

 
Especial mención a las fotografías de la portada, realizadas en la Sajonia Suiza/Alemana en el 2016 por Stefan Hanser, el mastermind tras A. Tube.

 

    Los temas más cargados de noise pueden presentar similitudes en un primer momento, aunque tras varias escuchas veamos que difieren, lo cual no evita pensar inicialmente en lo que nos encontramos en su Golden Temple, de ahí que el factor sorpresa quizás pueda perderse un poco. Señalar también la colaboración del ucraniano Monocube, así como Post Scriptvm y Pacific 231, a lo largo del disco.

En suma, por preferencias y experiencia personal, creo que me sigo quedando con Golden Temple; quizás le vea un giro más maduro y perfilado al todo. Sin embargo, lo que más me sorprende es el fuerte impacto de sus layers, de sus texturas, de la manera en que criba y coordina todos los elementos referidos. No sé, me deja en un estado contemplativo, que no meditativo. Realmente hace “clic” en mí, pero no llego a poder desarrollar más esa idea, salvo que me induce a tener estados de conciencia alterada. Highlights: personalmente empezaría por Perfect Dream, Perpetual Dawn - suena como las olas golpeando contra un cuerpo – , o Evangelium der Weltharmonie. Y si os mola, seguir tirando por cosas como In the Vortex of the Dyonisian Reality II, Like the Streaming of a Giant River… // https://epicureanescapism.bandcamp.com // Originalmente publicado en I Don't Give a Fuck #4 bookazine.