Released
1997
Label
Thrill Jockey
Box 476794
Chicago, IL 60647
Reviewed by
Destruct (at) waste.org
Last Edit/Update
06 March, 1998
Microstoria
Reprovisors
Track Listing
1. C-Schulz & Hajsch microstoria remix
2. Ui Run? I jolly well won't run.
I'll be happy to get you chaps another ball
3. Violent Onsen Geisha endless summer NAMM
4. Mouse on Mars pull moll
5. FX Randomiz yaun twais oy
6. Oval microstoria runtime engine
7. Stereolab microlab: endless summer
8. Jim O'Rourke NAMM weekend pass mix
9. Christoph Heemann jieTZeit
10. Christophe Charles Feld C
11. Nicolas Collins microstoria_snd
Jan St. Werner and Markus Popp are a couple of young Germans who have managed to make a name for themselves in their own separate electronic projects outside Microstoria. Jan Werner (along with Andi Toma) is of the trippy Cologne electro-dubster outfit Mouse on Mars, while Popp is better known as the driving force behind Oval, a project that crosses boundaries between ambience and sampling terrorism. Microstoria is therefore an obligatory side-project, but for what its worth it manages to rival both of its parent projects for sheer creative audacity (which is no easy task).
The best description of Microstoria I've come across is the bizarre communication between idle computer networks - the sounds of a language transmitted via ISDN cables, machine-speak. Indeed this description may be close to what Werner and Popp have in mind when devising their music, their language is full of computer terminology. From naming an album _snd to tracks like "Sleep People/Network Down" a world of muted humans and disturbingly alive computers systems is evoked. Microstoria music creaks and pulses ever so softly, an overload of communication gargle's take place, only to subside briefly before continuing the fibre optic transmissions.
Imagine humans accidentally stumbling across this hidden coda, then attempting to interject with their own interpretation of what they have discovered - thus Reprovisers comes into being. Simply put, Reprovisers is a remix project (Re - to remix, Provise - to improvise), Microstoria have handed tracks from the _snd album over to eleven like-minded individuals to reinterpret. The results are captivating.
C-Schulz & Hajsch from Cologne add a bit of electro-noodling to "per formal", nice but subtle. New York bass cadets Ui win the award for most ridiculous song title of 1997 "Run? I jolly well wont run. Ill be happy to get you chaps another ball". Minimal upright bass ethics are at play here, while Microstoria glitches fill in the spaces, traditional instruments meet high-tech data flows and it works exceedingly well.
Giving a track to Japanese weirdo's Violent Onsen Geisha is just asking for trouble. "endless summer NAMM" is transformed into a horrid collage of noise, its just lovely! VOGs work gets exceedingly close to a Nurse with Wound style surrealistic barrage at times, and Microstoria is buried in there somewhere. The sound of a computer network inside an asylum perhaps?
Mouse on Mars do the deed next with "pull moll", this is more experimental than the usual MoM funk, and it ends up closer Jans side-project than his main outlet. However the dub infusion is there, and this is an incredibly warm driftwerk. Another Cologne underground man follows in the shape of FX Randomiz (who is also an occasional Mouse on Mars assistant). Analogue subversions take place within the set framework of the remix, and swirls of static underlay funky synthlines as the mainframes hit the dance floor.
Markus takes his side-project home and gives it the typical Oval reworking. Nervy blips and stuttering slips are all the rage. I can imagine Markus taking a track home and running it through his desktop "runtime engine" to produce the trademark signature, a 3 minute process. Post-modern composing at its best.
Stereolab go spymania and loop the most "musical" moment of "endless summer NAMM", basically making a Stereolab with special guests, Microstoria track. Its a little geeky, but geek is a world that Stereolab take great pleasure in, so I wont dis them too much ;)
Giving a track to flavour of the avant-garde month, Jim ORourke may seem a little obligatory, but naturally Jim deserves his accolade. "NAMM weekend pass mix" is the gem of Reprovisers. Chimes, piano and sax gel with the electronics like they were born from the same mother. We are left to wander a disjointed plane of existence, somewhere beyond the imagination of both human and machine. This is a wonderful excursion into sound-art.
Ex-HNAS man Christoph Heemann celebrates the wonders of silence by remixing "Teil Zeit". Everything Heemann touches turns to ash, and this is Microstoria minus the office lighting. The remix is cold and sparse, and of course appeals to me, its kind of like taking a trip into deep space. These are the outer regions of ambient music, enter them if you dare.
Christophe Charles "Feld C" is not unlike Heemans work, giving a little more space and malevolence to the Microstoria sound. Reprovisers closes with a reprovisation from Nicolas Collins. Electronic drones battle the work of Jan and Markus, as a war of textures takes place. There is no victor however, both sides consume one another while the listener takes great pleasure in the slaughter.
Reproviser happens to be one of the best releases in electronic experimentation in 1997. Be it through the sheer talent of the remixers or the amazing music they were given in the first the, result is a rich tapestry of sound forging. The old proverb "if it aint broke dont fix it" is made a mockery of, because even the best can get better.
