Tag Archives: Bureau B

Switched On – Jimi Tenor: Multiversum (Bureau B)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

After two collections of career-spanning retrospectives, Jimi Tenor teams up once again with Bureau B. This time the material is brand new, and the label have allowed him free reign within the slight confines of synthesizer, flute and saxophone. He has such a diverse musical history that he could turn his hand to pretty much any form of electronic, jazz or even modern classical, but here his choices tend towards a blend of electronic and jazz.

Working with a typically instinctive approach, Tenor delivered the album within a few months from his Helsinki studio, using drum machines and synthesizer loops as a support for all sorts of treble-range activity.

What’s the music like?

Full of character. Jimi Tenor writes with a good deal of flair and always with a sense of humour, and his solos are packed with melodic content but also unexpectedly poignant moments.

The range of music is impressive, from the ultra-cool Gare du Noir and Monday Blue, with their easygoing vibes, to the upfront Slow Intro, where Tenor employs a fake choir. This leads to Life Hugger, with a flute-led swagger to the Krautrock groove. When the vocals are employed the approach is the same, with Unchartered Waters more song-based and Birthday Magic adding a humourous nod and a wink.

RajuRaju has a short attention span, with frenetic beats countered by rich ensemble passages. It is followed by the longest track, The Way To Kuusijärvi, a lovely slice of mellow flute and keys that give us the chance to kick back and indulge. This being Jimi Tenor, though, there is always some activity underfoot, and the skittish beat means we can’t relax too much! The saxophone solo, when it comes, is a beauty.

Does it all work?

Yes. With most constraints off the table, Jimi Tenor’s ability to think instinctively makes for consistently involving listening. His music is always interesting and full of melodic content, and the humour tops it off. On occasion Multiversum can get a bit ragged, but that’s a small price to pay for some infectiously good vibes.

Is it recommended?

It is. Jimi Tenor’s partnership with Bureau B is clearly good for him – and with the music as colourful as its cover, we can expect a good deal where this came from.

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Switched On – Conrad Schnitzler & Wolf Sequenza: Consequenz II (Bureau B)

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by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Consequenz was a low-budget collaboration in 1980 between Conrad Schnitzler, once of Kluster and Eruption, and drummer Wolfgang Seidel, aka Wolf Sequenza. Its aim was to liberate music from elitist circles, and it set about this with a refreshing freedom. A sequel was commissioned and recorded in 1983/4, and Seidel takes up the story in the record’s press release:

“Certain ‘secret devices’ had materialized in our ivory tower in the meantime. Conrad Schnitzler had purchased an 8-track recorder with money he had earned from ‘proper’ art. I borrowed various bits of equipment from my band – Populäre Mechanik – including a drum computer, so we could really let rip. The little songs we made sounded much more ‘professional’ than the cheerfully low budget music of the first Consequenz. I’d taken days off work for the sessions and after a week we had enough material to fill one side of an LP.’

He continues. ‘All we needed now was music for the B-side, but our enthusiasm for the borrowed drum computer had waned somewhat. It was always the first track we recorded, which meant that everything else had to follow its lead. The beat itself was singularly unimpressed by what came next. This was an unsatisfactory state of affairs for two players (musicians?) who had begun with free improvisation, with either of the participants able to change the direction of the whole thing. Unsatisfactory, in spite of the fact that I was able to play to the beat with perfect timing, which led Conrad Schnitzler to give me the nickname “Sequenza” (hence the Consequenz title). The natural division of an LP into an A-side and a B-side lends itself to a caesura when the disc is flipped. So we decided to return to free-floating sounds on the B-side and, listening back now, I’m glad we did. Instead of competing with each other, the two sides dovetail perfectly.’

What’s the music like?

A fascinating listen to two musicians playing instinctively, Sequenza II has a fresh and incredibly modern sound. Its division into two sides is surprisingly effective too – side A has the sharp shooters, packed with riffs and incident aplenty, while side B is one track alone, Kastilien evolving over nearly 20 minutes into a work of impressive gravitas.

Before that we have Von Hand, firing on all cylinders, and the ping pong exchanges of Zack Zack. There is a friendly charm to a lot of this music, subtle humour coming through in the generation and exchange of ideas, with some regimented beats that speak of the time they were written. Hommage a Gaudi bucks the trend with its squiggly formations, Windmill operates with obscure riffing, while Erotik has a funky profile dancing around its regimented beat.

España won’t be to all tastes, with its coughed up refrains likely to panic in its Covid associations. Just as well, then, that Kastilien follows. By far the most challenging track on the album it is also one of the most liberating, its freedom expressed through increasingly restless and agile synthesizer music as its 20 minutes progress, dissolving in a wall of noise.

Does it all work?

Largely. You have to be in the right mood for Kastilien, but it works really well as a complement to the first side and its chopped up riffing, which proves to be highly enjoyable.

Is it recommended?

It is – and lovers of Krautrock or German electronic music from the 1970s will want to hear it for sure. Conrad Schnitzler continues to prove his worth more than a decade on from his sad passing, and in Wolfgang Seidel he has the ideal foil.

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Switched On – Etienne Jaumet & Fabrizio Rat: Etienne Jaumet & Fabrizio Rat (Bureau B)

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What’s the story?

This is a collaboration from two trained pianists who also look to electronic music and synthesizers for inspiration. As the press release describes, Etienne Jaumet creates unusual sounds thanks to the rhythmic machines that accompany his piano, while Fabrizio Rat uses this classical and romantic instrument par excellence to explore the techno sphere.

What’s the music like?

There are seven intriguing tracks here, and they work as studies into the piano’s ability to create colours and tones well beyond its original design. The electronics complement the overall sound but are always in thrall to the main act, and while melodic interest is often at a premium, both musicians use what they have with impressive economy.

After a few listens those melodic cells start to plant earworms, while the different tones reveal more piano originated tones than first thought. Visione Pop, for instance, makes clever use of the higher keys as percussion, with burbling electronics providing the effective minimal riffs. Transmutazione also goes higher up the register, with a metallic timbre shifting over a constant pitch towards the lower end, but the ominous Rive Opposte, the opening track, uses the lowest end of the piano in a hollow study.

Soffiare Insieme is a longer piece, a really effective study in colour and texture that hypnotises through its regular patterns of contraction. In contrast Profondità uses the midrange piano notes like meteor trails, with a clever use of reverberation and a curious whirring in the foreground that sounds like the occasional winding of a clock.

Does it all work?

It does. The music has a darker shade to it but Jaumet and Rat clearly had a meeting of minds in the project, and the results are never less than intriguing.

Is it recommended?

Very much so. Followers of both musicians will want to acquire what turns out to be an engaging and stimulating collaboration.

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Switched On – Jimi Tenor: Deep Sound Learning (1993 – 2000) (Bureau B)

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reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Bureau B have already had an extended look at Jimi Tenor’s legacy from the 1990s in last year’s NY, Hel, Barca – a fruitful foray into his impressively consistent archive. Deep Sound Learning visits a similar era, casting its eye over unreleased tracks from DATs sent by the Finnish artist to Warp Records, his label at the time. Warp preserved the tracks they didn’t use on his albums of that era, so this is a set of previously unheard music from the Tenor vaults.

What’s the music like?

Once again the music of Jimi Tenor is notable for its bold exploration and freedom, and the 19 tracks here cover all sorts of stylistic terrain. The saxophone often features, pulling some of the tracks towards deeper jazz, while many of these pieces of work venture into house and funk.

Colour is an important ingredient of the music, which is never dull, and never coasts. Exotic House Of The Beloved starts off by showing its age in a good way, with a chunky profile and funky beats. Dub de Pablo by contrast is a low slower, with a nocturnal air. Another Space Travel indulges Tenor’s love of a wobbly synth line, while Travellers Cape has an appealing bounce to its rhythm.

The Tenor saxophone blesses a few tracks with its presence, not least the evocative Sambakontu, or setting the scene on Downtown.

Does it all work?

More often than not. Sometimes the music is easily dated, which can be a good thing, but the standard is high. Only a track like O-Sex, with some familiar clichés, sounds like an offcut from the 1990s.

Is it recommended?

Yes. Deep Sound Learning is an ideal companion to last year’s exploration of Jimi Tenor’s early works, and shows just how consistent he could be – and how much fun he had while doing so. There will be something for everyone in this set, that’s for sure.

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Switched On – Mapstation: My Frequencies, When We (Bureau B)

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mapstation

reviewed by Ben Hogwood

What’s the story?

Düsseldorf’s Stefan Schneider is the man behind Mapstation, a pseudonym he has used on eight albums since 2000. This is his eighth album, recorded in isolation between March and August 2020 – and because of that his usual penchant for including guest musicians had to be rescinded. He also scaled back the equipment used, paring down to an analog tape loop device, a Roland 808 drum machine, a Novation Peak synthesizer and a guitar – not to mention his own voice, which appears occasionally.

What’s the music like?

Schneider tends to operate towards the lower end of the frequency scale, which ties in with the influences he holds dear. Dub music and Krautrock are perhaps the two most prominent, while perhaps inevitably for a Düsseldorf-based musician the slower side of Kraftwerk and Hans-Joachim Roedelius make themselves known on occasion. So, too, does the music of Cabaret Voltaire.

Mapstation’s music is never over-reliant on a single strain, however, moving with fluid ease between moods and speeds and often maintaining considerable tension. My Mother Sailor has a sonorous lower range, while the Cabaret Voltaire influence comes to the fore on the short but sharp Train Of Gerda. To A Single Listener is an intriguing track, like a musician noodling on the pedals of an organ in a snowstorm. The bleeps and tones Mapstation uses can be intimate or expansive.

Does it all work?

Yes – though you need the right listening environment for My Frequencies to make a proper impact. Listening to it at home or in a studio would be the best environments, for the lower end frequencies to have maximum impact.

Is it recommended?

It is – followers of Schneider’s music will be pleased to note his quality threshold is still high…while followers of the Bureau B label will be satisfied.

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