Izvođač: Battlestations
Izdavač: Samizdat
Izlazak: 2011
Trajanje: 11:27
Ocjena: 4.1/5
Nakon fantastičnog istoimenog prvijenca, belgijski Battlestations, kako to i priliči njihovoj eksperimentalnoj naravi, opet su kroz svoje neuhvatljive glazbene paukove mreže stvorili nešto apstraktno nepojmljivo, nešto što se teško može iskazati riječima, nešto bez forme, a opet s više nego dovoljno supstance. Ako je njihov prvijenac Battlestations bio konglomerat žanrova i stilova i prije svega potraga za fokusom (što je inače odlično funkcioniralo), Return / Mr. Abject EP puno je definiraniji. Ne konvencionalno definiran, što je naravno potpuno u redu, nego usmjereniji, podijeljeniji, s osjećajem da je bend počeo obuzdavati svoj kaotičan zvuk. To sad ne znači da se Return / Mr. Abject EP može jednostavno strpati u ladicu kao većina današnje glazbe. Glazba je i dalje neuhvatljiva. Možda su samo smjernice malo jasnije.
Return / Mr. Abject EP drži vezu s prvijencem ponajprije u već prepoznatljivom prijetećem prepletanju akustične i električne gitare. Elektronička manipulacija i dalje je prisutna, ali primjetno manje, a istovremeno se i sama konstrukcija EP-a približava eksperimentalnom post-punku kasnih osamdesetih te onim hrabrijim post-rock zvukovima. Glazba je i dalje zaogrnuta velom tajanstvenosti, što dijeli sa samim bendom, ali se zato nešto više otkriva sama od sebe. Postaje podnošljiva za slušateljeva uha, a ipak se pokazuje kao nešto koherentnije i blaže u svojoj neposlušnosti nego bendov prvijenac.
Drugo studijsko izdanje benda zato djeluje kao neka vrsta mosta prema njihovu nadolazećem glazbenom izrazu. Djeluje kao mostić od početne potrage za glazbenim formama i spajanja bezbrojnih utjecaja prema nečemu zrelijem. I iako zato dobiva na slušljivosti i prepoznatljivosti (u smislu zapamtljivih melodija), gubi nešto od one iskonske kaotičnosti, iskonske eksperimentalnosti koju su iskazivali prvijencem. Ipak, riječ je o odličnom izdanju, namijenjenom svima koji bend već znate ili ga tek počinjete upoznavati.
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After the release of their fantastic self-titled debut, Belgian band Battlestations, as it is in their experimental nature, created, through their highly elusive musical formations, something that is again abstractly unthinkable, something that is so hard to put into words, something without form and yet with enough substance to go on with. Their debut Battlestations was a conglomerate of genres and musical styles, it was their search for somethind definable (which worked perfectly well), but Return / Mr. Abject EP is, in comparison, much more defined. Not conventionally defined, but defined nonetheless – more oriented, divided in definable parts. It feels like the band started to cut back on their all-over-the-place sound. That doesn’t mean that Return / Mr. Abject EP can be simply assigned one label and go with it. Their music is still very elusive in that way. But the band definitely set some guidelines.
Return / Mr. Abject EP is connected to the band’s debut primarily through their by-now typical intertwining electric and acoustic guitars. Their electronic manipulation is still there, but it’s been really reduced. Those guidelines pushed their music into a more familiar area – their sound comes close to the more experimental post-punk groups of the 80’s era and the more advantageous post-rock groups of the 90’s. The music itself is still somehow hidden in the veil of mystery, like the band itself, but is, at the same time, much more out in the open as the music on the debut. The listener’s ears can manage the sounds more clearly and the music is much more coherent altogether.
The band’s second studio effort therefore represents some kind of a bridge to their potential musical expression. A bridge from adolescence to adulthood. But even though their music is much more recognizable and melodic (and therefore easier to remember), it lost some of that primordial chaos, that primal experimentation that was really what made their debut such an impressionable experience. Nonetheless, Return / Mr. Abject EP is a great release and should be listened by those who already know of the band and by those who are only getting acquainted with them.
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Return / Mr. Abject
