MYSTERY SEA 31 | erratic | [the invisible landscape]
ARTWORK
front 
back
INTRODUCTORY
WORDS
-"That
which, in the language of religion, is called "this world"
is the universe of reduced awareness, expressed, and, as it were, petrified
by language. The various "other worlds", with which human
beings erratically make contact are so many elements in the totality
of the awareness belonging to Mind at Large."
-Aldous Huxley, 'The Doors of Perception'
(1954)
PRESS RELEASE
Belgian sound "gardener" Jan
Robbe has a deep interest in cultivating various aural forms,
sculpting them carefully into pieces possessing their own mood... Following
their course, he then works under a series of pseudonyms, each being
the expression of a different style...
So, UNDACOVA, the earliest one, mixes his electronic & rhythmic
facets... DUNCAN AVOID, is a collaboration with KAEBIN YIELD of a more
abstract nature, but still rhythm oriented... XE PHALANX is a group
of electronic musicians & allied artists, cooperating together to
condense sound fragments into a global quasi filmic approach... and
finally ERRATIC which is the vehicle for a more personal exploration
of the psyche, and its imaginary corollaries... Jan
is also the founder of the respectable ENTITY netlabel, an inspired
graphic artist, and a meticulous sound engineer...
For MS, Jan Robbe becomes
ERRATIC to offer us a detailed psychogeographic journey,
combining extreme inner sensations, transformed visions & enhanced
perception...
"The invisible landscape" surges unexpectedly
when turned into yourself...
Imagine its first nascent breath amongst the tall waving grass, through
the insect talk, coming from an out of reach subterranean source, mirroring
there its most secret & vibrant stream...
Along the process, seen things acquire an extra dimension, gaining new
colours, outlines & contrasts...
-
"The invisible landscape" is the key to an
undrawn filigree map, your access to a certain clairvoyance at a smaller
scale...
-
Simply close your eyes, lay an ear to the ground, listen to the flux
below and fade away in unison with a retranscribed world...
TRACKS
01. superfluid
>
listen !
02. the invisible landscape part 1 -
inspiring expiring
03. the invisible landscape part 2 - mysterium tremendum
> listen
!
04. the invisible landscape part 3 - tidal
waves of transfiguration
05. the invisible landscape part 4 - diversionary
disintegration
06. the invisible landscape part 5 - hollow
beholder
07. okaasan chi
LENGTH
52'11
REVIEWS
VITAL
WEEKLY 508|Frans
De Waard
Of all the names used by Jan
Robbe, I only name-checked Idle Sunder, and not Undacova,
Duncan Avoid, Xe Phalanx, nor Erratic, which we are
dealing with today, with his contribution to Mystery Sea. Unlike many
others on the Mystery Sea label, Robbe plays not
the usual, one or two long pieces, but has seven tracks to offer,
in some fifty minutes. It's unclear what his sound input is, perhaps
field recordings of sea and wind, or a rusty analog synths, but before
it is put out again, it went through a myriad of sound effects, perhaps
analog, perhaps digital. The sub-aquatic theme that runs through all
the Mystery Sea releases (thirty-one and counting), is also present
on this one. It gives the listener the idea of being under water,
hearing everything like through a haze, a blurr. A ship passes overhead,
metal collides, that sort of thing. Erratic plays
the trick according to the book, making no mistakes, making no exceptions.
This is drone music that is exactly what it is. Fine stuff, but with
no real surprises.
vital
weekly
TOUCHING
EXTREMES |Massimo
Ricci
Belgian sound artist Jan Robbe works
under the Erratic pseudonym to explore the perilously
slimy waters where dark ambient and musique concrete meet, places where
dozens upon dozens of powerbook, loopstation, synthesizer, exotic instrument
owners break all their bones when the music they believe "oh so
deeply impacting" clashes against the crude reality of another
hundred thousand albums like their own "masterpieces", the
whole resulting in a bunch of meaningless music. But this is not the
case: Robbe knows a thing or two about the different
perspectives of event placement, applying a serious dose of skilled
engineering to his creation. Although not exactly chilling, Erratic's
pieces maintain a firm grip on the listener's attention; they are mostly
well-connected, splendidly detailed cinematic soundscapes. In several
moments of the title track series, the engrossing crescendo of alarming
muffled frequencies introduces a slide show of impressive still lives
and unclassifiable energies, underlined by a contrast with rustling
noises and pre-recorded environmental sources that light up a candle
of hope for the presence of someone in an otherwise distressing desolation.
The final track "Okaasan chi" touches the heart gently with
faint luminescences and superimposition of insects - of all things -
that sound like they're reciting a supplication.
touching
extremes
TOKAFI
|Tobias
Fischer
Fleeing boredom and the tiny terrors of human existence
is one important aspect of art. If a Finnish Hard Rock band can win
the Eurovision Song Festival dressed up as ghouls and ghosts, then a
large part of this success can be attributed to the fact that it simply
seems much more fun building an entirely new and colourful world for
yourself and others to live in (see also: myspace). Celebrating and
elevating the little pleasures and the magic of every-day life is art’s
second domain. On this disc by Belgian “sound gardener”
Jan Robbe, both ideals come together in a seemless
blend. For Robbe, who
has released music under a bunch of different pseudonyms and also runs
the brilliant “entity” netlabel with a focus on nightly,
atmospheric electronica, the collaboration with his compatriot Daniel
Crokaert’s “Mystery Sea” outfit is therefore both
a natural, as well as a daring one: While Daniel’s dark, dreamy
and sometimes desolate drone depictations deliberately and decidedly
drift into delicately otherworldly dimensions, Robbe’s
vision is much more direct. In stark contrast to what its title might
suggest, the “invisible landscape” is not
some mystic place outside of our perception. Neither is it just a product
of the mind. In fact, when listening with open ears, it will reveal
itself to be more “real” than some of the things you read
about in the papers. All of the seven pieces on the album, including
the five-part title suite, work along the same pattern: Monochromatic
spheres lurk in the background, whispering in unintelligible voices
and gaping into the void. On top, there is a single layer of sound:
Scraping, snapping, cracking, fistling, rustling, fizzing, fristling
and hissing noises, with a field recording-feeling to them. These subtle
sonorities are seldonly disturbed, unless for a good reason, such as
in the intriguing finale of “Mysterium Tremendum”, where
one has the impression, as if giant metallic bowls were being rubbed
against each other. Listening to “the invisible landscape”
is like looking through several transparencies, stretched over a nocturnal
ocean – you have a sensation of total openness, yet it remains
impossible to penetrate the final frontier. In some moments, this creates
an eery and subcutaneously tinkling sensation, but for most of the time,
the music is of an almost peaceful nature and seems to document unspectacular,
yet somehow significant scenes: The milkman replacing an old bottle
with a fresh one in some lazily awakening peasant village, wooden logs
passing you by on the banks of a mist-covered stream, an old lady preparing
tea in a heavy kettle over the fire, flies and bees buzzing round your
head, as you lie in the grass and watch the clouds. These are archetypical
and archaic pictures and they feel wonderfully familar. There
is no conflict between escapism and every-day life here, simply because,
as Robbe demonstrates, there is no contradiction. By
running from mediocrity, “real” life can become much brighter
and by enjoying the tiny details surrounding your every move, this earth
unfolds into a perfect place. It is an image of the world as seen through
the eyes of a blind man, wonderous and with an insatiable curiosity,
and it serves to proove that the good things are just around the corner:
Making the invisible become visible lies within the powers of your hands.
tokafi
CHAIN
D.L.K.|Eugenio Maggi
Rated :
4 stars out of 5
Behind Erratic hides
Belgian soundmaker Jan Robbe, who is also active with
different projects - both solo and collective - I haven't checked out
yet (UndaCova, Duncan Avoid, xE Phalanx), as a talented designer and
as the runner of the Entity netlabel. This ambient/drone project was
born as "a personal quest to unify sound with thoughts and imaginary
visual landscapes", and those mind visions must be some pretty
scary ones judging from the results. Robbe carefully manipulated concrete
recordings (there are a lot of insects in here for sure) and alien drones
to weave these highly immersive soundscapes. Blurred images crawl in
and out of the shadows, and the whole disc plunges you in a sort of
underwater lucid dream. A possible reference could be Andrey Kiritchenko/Nihil
Est Excellence's brilliant and undervalued "Vizmilieu", or
López's "Azoic Zone". Wonderful subterrean drones.
chaindlk
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