Artist: The Montreal Nintendo Orkestar Title: One Hundred and Twenty Days, Live at the LFH Label: Artzik Rekordz Genre: Experimental / Improvisation 01 One Hundred and Twenty Days On a normal day, it is enough to hand me an album and let me know it was created with the help of any kind of Nintendo console to make me shiver and force an unintentional sour face. Outside their context of a doubtful 80s amusement devices sound mechanism, these quirky, happy like the Chucky doll and nerve breaking sounds are completely outdated and almost never relevant, in my opinion only. Yes, it is a poppy (in the sense of Pop art, not Pop music) genre, but if I can make a crude comparison, in our post industrial era, oldschool industrial music also sounds outdated and even kitsch (except maybe a few brilliant names). This is why when, a while ago, I have heard of this project, it did not sound like something special to wait for. I couldnt be more wrong with my prejudice, as The Montreal Nintendo Orkestar is as far from producing this This is an expert Nintendo gamer, playing on double speed through distortion music as Super Mario on level 1 is far from the princess. Stephen S.Cibo (Black Leader) and Albérick (.cut, Thee Virginal Brides) are the duo behind this project. Recorded live, this album is made of one track that ranges well over 30 minutes, and show diversity, development and suspense, all looming in front of a marvelous sonic picture. One Hundred and Twenty Days begin slowly, with a very slow but steady rise of a serene and gentle wave. While all sounds are originating from Nintendo boxes, the manipulations made by TMNO make them sounds alien, shifting from soothing, angelic sounds to hellish sonic furnaces. TMNO make things tighter and tighter as the minutes pass. An obscure sampled dialogue adds up to the already obscure and uneasy atmosphere. One Hundred and Twenty Days soon becomes a hypnotic, all engulfing juggernaut of emotions, raised and developed from the beginning of the album, like an eye dazzling eagle out of its egg. In its peak, One Hundred and Twenty Days is almost unbearable with its detailed sound particles, endlessly colliding over the powerful dialogue that grows even more intense. Then, naturally, comes darkness, as the show is almost over and TMNO are slowly pulling the heavy curtains down. The music dies slowly and not without a beautiful swan song to it, closing up a powerful experience and letting it drift away in the dark. Heathen Harvest Periodical Saturday, August 01 2009 @ 02:00 AM PDT Contributed by: ~Oren ben Yosef
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 19:03:27 +0000