Before charging headlong into the discussion of
Neukrk, the terrific new collection of innovative electronic compositions by Manhattan-based one-man symphony Disparition (known to his friends as Jon Bernstein), I'd like to take a moment to say a few words about the neurological condition known as synesthesia. Put simply, it's a condition whereas the affected subject, known as a synesthete, sees colours or shapes when they hear noises. I'd done a little research on the phenomenon a few years ago, when I was writing a short story about a murder that took place in a seedy little motel room out in the boondocks. The only "witness" to the murder was a young woman in the room next door, who suffered from this condition. Whenever she heard another person's voice, she would see snaky, multi-coloured lines in her peripheral vision – the patterns and colours of the line would be unique for every voice she heard. Anyway, she heard the voice of the killer through the cheap, paper-thin walls of the motel ... and I never really got past that point. The story, with the working title "Shades of Murder," went into my "revisit at a later date" bin; to be honest, it hasn't seen the light of day since.
One of the cooler stories I read about was the case of the synesthete woman who only saw colours when she listened to music. Deeper notes resulted in darker colours, with various pitches and volumes creating a multitude of shades. This woman stated that music produced waving lines "like oscilloscopic configurations – lines moving in colour, often metallic with height, width, and most importantly depth. My favourite music has lines that extend horizontally beyond the 'screen' area."
Segue over. I bring this up because after my first listen to
Neukrk, I thought to myself,
What colours would I have been seeing if I were a synesthete? Normally I don't associate music with neurological conditions, but with this, the fifth electronic outing from Disparition, it immediately just jumped to mind. Here we have 18 tracks stretching over 1.3 hours – and there isn't a dull patch in sight.
Neukrk is an absolute pleasure to listen to straight through from beginning to end. There are no breaks between tracks, and the flow is seamless. Needless to say, turn your shuffle off if you wish to experience the full power of
Neukrk. This was designed to be listened to (I believe) from front to back. But that's just me – listen to it however you want!
How would I describe it?
Neukrk (I love typing that) is first and foremost an electronic voyage that shifts and morphs into different moods and feelings throughout its duration. It flows and ebbs – varying subtly as it moves along from chilly piano-driven sonatas ("The Ballad of Fiedler and Mundt") to sweeping organic bridges ("Roscoff") to EBM-flavoured industrialism ("Ratchathewi") to surreal ambience to slices of German synth-pop inspired dance tracks ("Nieuwe Utrecht"). That's one of the things I like most about Disparition's compositional order – it never succumbs to just one genre, one idea. There's even a touch of flamenco guitars hovering in the background of tracks such as opener "Glass Tiger" and "Walled Forest." A general sense of experimentalism and discovery permeate everything on display here, yet – yet! – it's still quite accessible. Brains and intellect are the backbone of
Neukrk, but not so much as to alienate casual listeners. Ghostly, swirling breezy effects shade the darkest shadows and corners everywhere you listen, and frankly I think that each subsequent listen will reveal new twists and turns that hadn't been noticed before. Pay special attention to the closing track "The Door" – my absolute favourite of the lot. Close your eyes. And think of that thing that lives in the walls of the old, dilapidated house, scratching and scurrying and keening in the darkness.
Frankly, it's fucking terrific, the whole package. Deeply recommended. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to dig "Shades of Murder" out of the bin and listen to
Neukrk whilst writing it. Cheers, friends.
You can
click here to either download
Neukrk, or (better yet) purchase a hard copy for your collection. You'll be glad you did! And now, with no further ado, here is the video for "Ratchathewi". Enjoy!
Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge, better known as the Norwegian chill-out electronica heroes Röyksopp, are incredibly busy bees these days. Just last year they released Junior, their third album (and, in my humble opinion, their finest and most complex); embarked on a fine worldwide tour promoting said album with featured collaborator Karin Dreijer Andersson, the lead vocalist of Swedish experimental electronica duo The Knife; popped up on Swedish chanteuse Robyn's fantastic new album Body Talk Pt. 1 (on the terrific song "None of Dem"); and now have a new album, Senior, coming out on the 13th of September. As Röyksopp themselves explain on their website:
